Pokemon Black: Knight of Truth
by Miki-chan13
Summary: A change is coming over Unova. A mysterious group of people are disrupting the popular belief that Pokemon are our friends, partners and comrades. And there's the matter of their "King". Yet, this does nothing to hinder the young woman setting out into the world, leaving behind the comfort and familiarity of her home. On rewriting hiatus. Will up-date when editing is done.
1. Prolouge

The tension was palpable.

Smoke of gray rose to a blood red sky. The smell of death hung potent and present in the air.

The landscape, once green and beautiful from thousands of years of effort, had been destroyed in a matter of days.

Humans and Pokemon alike were left, rotting in the waste. They had died feeling nothing but fear and confusion in their final moments. No one could bury them; they were too afraid of getting caught in the crossfire.

_What could have possibly brought on this tragedy?_

"HAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

A clash of steel against steel. Sparks flew as the blades screeched against one another. Neither combatant gave an inch as they glared into each others eyes

Grey into Grey.

Hatred into hatred.

Twin roars bellowed out. Flames and lighting entwined and danced in a circle of plasma.

Blue and black into red and white.

Reflection into reflection.

None but one would know what had transpired here.

Wicked red and unblinking black saw it all.

Wicked red and unblinking black waited for them all to die.

* * *

"Whaaat? I don't wanna get married!" six-year-old Hilbert whined, tugging at his blue dress suit.

His father sighed as he took his sons hands off the suit so he didn't get it dirty.

"I told you before, you're not getting married; we're just going to meet some old friends of mine and their daughter," he said almost wearily.

Ever since his wife died, he's had his hands full with caring for their only child. He loved Hilbert to death, but there were many times when he wanted to strangle the boy.

The boy still held a frown but he stopped whining and allowed himself to be lead outside. The man took out one of his poke-balls and released an Unfezant out onto the grass. It trilled happily as it saw it's trainer. The man hoisted the boy onto the Unfezant's back and got on behind him.

"All right girl, fly us to Nacrene City, will you?" the man asked kindly.

The Unfezant trilled as she began to flap her wings, slowly lifting off the ground over the course of a minute. The boy exclaimed in surprise as he clung onto his father as the Unfezant ascended higher and higher up until it gave a short burst of speed and flew to the destination.

The arrived at Nacrene City just under twenty minutes later. The city had been abandoned by the people who worked there a century ago, leaving only warehouses behind; it looked as if the once proud city would decay. But artists began to rent them out, using them as studios and headquarters. Soon, people began to inhabit the city once more. The renowned artist and gym leader, Burgh of Castelia, and the respected author of novels and fanfiction, Shauntal of the Elite Four would come to the city to cure his artist's block, and her writer's block.

The Unfezant landed in front of a large building. The man got off and helped Hilbert off before returning the Unfezant to its poke-ball. He walked into the building, revealing an enormous room with a giant dragon skeleton, fossils carefully placed up right so people could gaze at them and not fall over, sets of enormous bones, and tablets with mysterious writing.

"Come on, Hilbert," his father chided the young bay, "We'll have plenty of time to look at the exhibits later, I promise."

Hilbert pouted again, but kept following his father, until they came to a supplies closet. The man opened the door, revealing a gigantic library. It was empty except for three people. The man guided Hilbert over to them.

"Son," the man said, kneeling by his side and gesturing to the three, "these are the people I told you about."

"This is Hawes," he gestured to the first, a rather scrawny man with brown hair, glasses and a gray suit- "and Lenora," he gestured to the second person, which was a warm-looking woman with dark skin, teal hair and lab coat over blue slacks and white blouse- "of Nacrene City. These two were very good friends of mine when we were younger."

Hilbert nodded, showing he got it before he noticed the last person. His father smiled slightly.

"And this little one, is their daughter, Melody of Nacrene City."

The last person was a little girl with black hair reaching below her shoulders, pale blue eyes, long-sleeved pink dress, gray tights and black dress shoes. Hilbert couldn't help it. His mouth was gaping slightly as he looked at the little girl.

"Well? Don't be shy, son," his father said, gently pushing his son forward to her.

"Uh- I- Er-"

And all the while, she looked at him with a solemn expression, patiently waiting for him to make sense.

"HILBERT!" he yelled out suddenly, making the girl wince from the volume.

"I mean, my name's Hilbert of Nuvema Town, " Hilbert said in a rush, thrusting his hand out to Melody.

"Hello," she said as she shook it, her tone soft and polite.

Hilbert's face lit up and he shook her hand more enthusiastically. "It's nice to meet you!" he said, grinning.

Melody smiled softly. "Likewise."

The three adults watched the scene with smiles on their faces.

"Children," Lenora said, placing a hand on their shoulders, "would you like to see the museum's new exhibit?"

"Okay!"

"Mm-hmm."

She led the two out, followed by their fathers back into the museum's main room, down the stairs, until they came to the new exhibit, all ready surrounded by other people. A glass case covered a dark blue pillow, holding a pure white, polished to perfection, stone.

"Wow!" Hilbert exclaimed, his eyes sparkling as he gazed at the stone.

Melody said nothing but her eyes widened as she looked at it. The tour guide droned on, uninterested at its new members.

"We found this stone in the Relic Castle, just off of Route 4. We don't know what its purpose is just yet, but it's nice to look at."

After a minute, the tour went on but the children remained, looking at the stone.

"It's pretty," Hilbert said, gazing at the stone in wonder.

Melody nodded absently, eyes trained on the relic as well.

* * *

In an enormous room, a little boy played happily. He wore a light green t-shirt and short brown pants. He had unkempt white hair and teal eyes. A Zorua, two woobats were playing with him while a Darmanitan watched over them. The boy called animatedly to the Pokemon, in growls and squeaks.

The room had a light blue ceiling and walls with a could pattern on them. Fluffy pillows were scattered all around, along with blocks and a toy train set.

And from a room with screens showing the room, a man and two girls watched the boy. The man had long green hair tied back and a black suit and hat. The first girl had pink hair and eyes with a Gothita, the other had blond hair and yellow eyes and a Ralts.

"Is that him, father? He's our brother?" the blond girl said, pointing to the boy.

The man nodded.

"When can we meet him?" the pink-haired girl asked.

"Soon."

* * *

Athnea, Concordia and Natural were indeed orphans and were taken in by Ghetsis. That's why the sage in the Relic castle wasn't sure if they were father and son. I'm just so very glad that Natural isn't Ghetsis's biological son. And Athnea and Concordia are much younger than I expected. I will get the next chapter up soon. Also, I couldn't think of a good sub-plot romance for Melody and Leon, so I got it out of the way in the prologue. And set the story-line more or less! Talk about killing two birds with one stone, eh? Reviews are appreciated. Leave lots of honest reviews!


	2. New trainers and Natural

I don't own Pokemon, just Knight of Truth.

"talking"

_thinking_

*Pokemon talking*

_"Via telepathty"_

* * *

"...hm?"

Melody of Nuvema Town blinked slowly, irritation showing on her features as the Pidove outside chirped.

Getting up and stretching her arms and legs to the tiredness, Melody walked over to the sleeping form of Kayuki, her Gothitelle, and gently shook the Astral body Pokemon awake. Kayuki's sapphire eyes opened and she had to stifle a chuckle as she faced Melody's irritated expression and icy blue eyes.

_"Bad night, Melody?"_

"...that obvious?"

_"Yes."_

The teenager snorted slightly before she began getting to ready herself for the day. A ten minute shower, plus seven more minutes for hygiene and blow drying, before she came out and picked out her outfit.

Kayuki looked at the 17-year-old as she brought out her choice of wardrobe. Melody had opted for a rather unusual outfit. A white tank top, black vest with roll-up sleeves, rolled up jeans, black combat boots with pink laces, a white hat with pink poke-ball design and her trademark pink and black wristbands which doubled as gloves.

Melody noticed Kayuki's expression as she organized her belongings into their appropriate capsules. "I felt like a change was in order. After all, everything else is going to change."

_"Ah."_

Melody set the capsules into her purse before heading downstairs to prepare breakfest. She brought out the poke-block and poffins for Kayuki first, setting a place for her before she brought out her own breakfast, a cereal box, milk and an microwavable English muffin. Kayuki hovered over to her place, and with that, the two began eating.

Kayuki looked around the kitchen. It was the only other room in the house besides Melody's bedroom, and in Kayuki's opinion, much plainer. A refrigerator, a microwave oven, a couple of cupboards and a single table with two chairs were the only things in the room, and the only sounds were the humming of the fridge and Melody chewing her cereal.

_"This house is just too quiet."_

Melody said nothing, but knew Kayuki had a point. She had lived in this tiny two-story house without anyone other than herself and Kayuki for years now.

_"Would you care to remind me why you chose to live here instead of with your mother and father?"_

About a year ago, Melody had requested that she be allowed to live in Nuvema Town until she got her trainer's license. Her parents, Lenora and Hawes of Nacrene City let her, on the condition that she continue her schooling and get the proper support to do so. Not to say they didn't help pay for some expenses, of course.

Melody looked up from her cereal. "Nacrene City isn't that far away, and Nuvema Town's trainer school is the best in Unova," she replied.

After finishing breakfast and doing the dishes, Melody turned off the lights, bolted the windows, put the food she set aside into their capsules before turning to Kayuki.

"It's time for you to go back into the poke-ball now," Melody held out a white poke-ball with red trim around the middle and Kayuki allowed her to zap her back inside the capsule.

She locked the door behind her, and Melody began to walk through the town called Nuvema. It was tiny, just under a hundred people living there, meaning pretty much everyone knew another. An advantage this town had was that everything was in walking distance.

_But while everything is in walking distance, what is needed isn't..._

Her school had recently held a raffle drawing. The first three winners of the raffle would be allowed to do something that was a tremendous honor: to use the fabled machines called the pokedex invented by the great Dr. Oak himself and work for the Pokemon professor who lived in Nuvema, Professor Aurea Juniper.

The pokedex.

That single word was enough to prompt a long-winded discussion about the young trainers from Sinnoh, Hoenn, Johto and especially Kanto who held these devices. That single word brought up people who had committed crimes from forgivable to unforgivable.

By luck only existing once in a lifetime, Melody was one of the raffle's winners.

_I have no idea who the other winners are either, so how are the four of us to work together if we don't know much about each other? Seems like a pretty foolish idea to have four strangers working together like this._

As Melody approached the lab, she noticed the door close up ahead. "Seems they already made it here."

"Out of my way, out of my way, out of my way, OUT OF MY WAY!"

Melody's sentence got cut off as a blur of white, orange and green slammed her onto the dirt road. Something was blocking her vision, an elbow was stuck in her stomach and a foot was scrunching down painfully on her shin.

_What in Arceus's name was that?!_ Melody thought, while on the outside, opted for an irritated outwards, "Do you mind? Get off of me."

A girl with blonde hair, green eyes and a white dress with orange vest and green barrette giggled sheepishly as she pulled herself off of the raven-haired girl.

"I'm so sorry about that! I was just so excited to be getting a pokedex!" she exclaimed, brushing the dirt off her dress, but only succeeded in making it even dirtier. She didn't seem to notice though.

Melody repressed a groan. Of all the people she had to run into, she had to bump into the most impulsive, irritating and ditzy girl on the planet.

Bianca Cabernet was a classmate of hers, and the only reason she had become associated with her was because she was once of Hilbert of Nuvema's closest friends. Despite her childish appearance, Bianca was a full year older than Melody was, and had high admiration for the raven-haired girl, much to her chagrin.

_So this is one of the people I have to work with?_ Melody repressed a groan and addressed the blonde. "Hello Bianca."

"Oh, it's Mel!" Bianca chirped happily as she grasped the others hands in her own.

"Isn't this exciting?! I can't believe we're gonna be work partners!" Bianca exclaimed happily.  
"Neither can I..." Melody murmured under her that, Bianca merrily dragged Melody the final stretch of the way to Professor Juniper's lab.

"Hello everyone~" Bianca cried as she shot through the door. Melody was thankfully not in Bianca's grasp and walked in after her.

The lab was fairly quaint. It held two rooms, one the actual lab, the other a small kitchen. There was an incubator, a laptop on a desk, and various other machines that Melody had no idea what their purpose was. It was at that point Melody noticed the three other people in the room.

The middle-aged woman with the strange hair and lab coat was Professor Juniper. Hilbert was also there, wearing a blue jacket, red hat with black poke-ball designs, and grey pants (_This won't be as bad as I expected_), and another boy with black hair, dark blue eyes, glasses, blue coat and black pants. Melody pulled out her notebook and flipped through it, finding what she was looking for.

Aurea Juniper was the first female professor to help work on the pokedex. She was a certifiable genius, and a quirky woman. Melody was curious how working with her was going to go.

The black-haired boy was Cheren Coryn. Again, the only reason she knew him was through Hilbert. Personally, she didn't like him, and the feeling for him was as mutual. He was confidant, almost to the point of arrogance, and was the only one in their school, and insisted that Melody was his rival for some reason.

Melody looked over at Hilbert, who grinned at her, giving a thumbs-up. Melody smiled slightly. Ever since childhood when their parents introduced them, they had been very close. Hilbert was her dearest friend and more.

_I'm glad he's there; he'll help me endure whatever sanity his friends will bring along._

"Alright everyone! You are the four winners of the poke-raffle, so you get the prize: you will be given the pokedex!" Juniper then held out the devices, each in a different color.

Hilbert grabbed the red pokedex, Cheren took the blue, Bianca snatched the pink and Melody took the black pokedex that was left over.

"Thank you Professor. Thanks to this, I can finally travel as a trainer, just like I always wanted," Cheren said politely, bowing his head.

"Yeah, thanks!" Hilbert and Bianca also said, following suit.

Melody simply nodded her thanks.

"Also, one last thing before you all go off: Do any of you have Pokemon?" Juniper asked.

"I do," Cheren brought out his Frillish, Siegfried. Melody repressed a shudder. It always creeped her out, and the stories online didn't help either.

"Uh-huh," Hlibert brought out his Krokorok, Tamaki. He was a little more bearable, except for the crush he had on her own Pokemon.

Melody nodded, already bringing out Kayuki; her companion since she was a baby and her best friend.

"No..." Bianca muttered, looking over at the other three Pokemon with obvious longing, "but why did you ask?"

"Because i have some very special Pokemon for you all!" Juniper then gestured to the table behind her with four poke-balls.

"Are these starter Pokemon, like the ones Professor Oak gave out?!" Cheren exclaimed.

"That they are, though they're not the same species."

"Dibs!" Bianca and Hilbert immediately snatched the pokeballs on the right.

"Honestly you guys, don't act so impulsively... I get that one." Cheren grabbed the left middle.

_And that leaves me with this one._

They all released the Pokemon inside the balls. Hilbert grinned as he patted the head of his Oshawatt. Bianca hugged her Tepig in an almost death-hold, squealing like a baby. Cheren admired his Snivy with a tiny smile. Melody glanced at her own Snivy. It looked at her and then a smirk grew on its face as it reached out a vine to her. After a moment's hesitation, Melody shook it.

"Alright, as you all know, many of the pokedex holders started out when they were still children, but since you all have been in school long enough to know the basics, I won't be in your way for much longer. Now then listen up-" Juniper then turned very serious. "- I am giving you the pokedex so that you may help further what we already know about Pokemon and possible discover new mysteries about them. Please don't forget about that, okay?"

"Yes ma'am!"

With that, the four of them exited.

"Hey hey!" Bianca suddenly exclaimed.

"Yeah?" Hilbert asked.

"I just got a great idea!"

"Do we have to do it right now? I want to get going as soon as possible," Cheren gripped.

"Will you just wait a sec? Seriously, Cheren!" Bianca retorted before turning back to them.

"We can all take our first steps as trainers onto Route 1! i mean, who knows when we'll see each other again?"

_That's actually a good idea._

With that, Bianca grabbed Cheren's hand, Hilbert grabbed his other (much to the bespectacled young man's annoyance), then held his own to Melody, who grasped it.

"Ready, set, go!"

With that, the four of them sprang forth, almost running onto the route. They skidded to a halt right before the tall grass.

_This is it._

"Well, as fun as that was, I have a champion to beat. now if you'll excuse me-" with that, Cheren left the group.

"Good luck you guys!" Bianca called before running into the grass.

Hilbert looked at Melody, who offered a smile. "Well, this is it."

"Yeah."

"Melody," Hilbert looked at her, eyes pleading silently, "stay safe. i don't want you to get hurt."

"You too. I don't want to be a widow before I'm even married."

Hilbert chuckled slightly before kissing her cheek. "Are you sure you don't want to travel with me?"

"I'll be spending my life with you soon enough; I'd like to be able to travel like this before then," Melody replied, not unkindly.

"Okay then, see you soon!" Hilbert then ran off, waving to her. Melody waved back before turning her attention to the red and white poke-ball in her hand.

Melody released the Snivy. The green Pokemon looked up at her, expression proud as he looked up at her, as if _he_ was pleased that _she_ met _his_ expectations. She took out her pokedex and scanned the snake-like Pokemon.

_Snivy, the grass snake Pokemon. It is very intelligent and calm. They photosynthesize by being exposed to sunlight, which makes them swifter. When they are ill, their tails droop. It can use its vines more efficiently than their hands._

_Gender: Male._

_Nature: Adamant._

_Characteristic: Somewhat vain._

_Ability: Overgrow._

_Moves: Tackel, leer._

_Weak against: Poison, flying, fire, ice, and bug._

_Strong against: water, rock and ground._

"What do you think of the name Percival, or the nickname 'Percy'?" Melody finally asked.

The Snivy looked pensive before a grin spread on his features and uttered a pleased-sounding hiss. Melody nodded in acknowledgment before looking over at the grass.

"This route is filled with wild Pokemon. If I am to get stronger, we'll have to train a lot. So, let's see what you've got."

Percy grinned slightly and he shot off into the tall grass, looking like a mere blur of green, white and yellow, to Melody's surprise.

"Hey, don't leave your trainer behind!" she called as she ran after him.

* * *

_This one really enjoys battling, even when near fainting. Thanks to that, we nearly didn't make to Accumula town before dusk._

Melody was currently resting on a bench near the Accumula Pokemon center/ market, exhausted.

Accumula was a small town just outside of Nuvema, except it was more urban and had more people and covered a larger area. Really, there was next to nothing interesting about it.

Percy had a grin that stretched across his entire face as he looked back at Melody, who was out of breath. The starter had literally thrown himself into the fray and had beaten pretty much any Pokemon on the route in his way. However, Melody wasn't able to catch another Pokemon after that.

"It's just as well. There weren't any that caught my eye," she said aloud.

Percy snickered as he curled up on Melody's lap, cockiness and pride radiating off of the little Smug-leaf.

_"This must be the first time someone has actually run you ragged, Hilbert excluded,"_ Kayuki chuckled.

Melody twitched slightly, but said nothing.

"Well, Percy's stronger now... hm?" Melody looked up to see the townsfolk gathering at the Plaza.

Or rather, there were some very strange people forcing them into the town square. Then, without any warning, Percy jumped off her lap and ran toward the crowd.

"Percy-!" Melody returned Kayuki to her poke-ball and ran after Percy. By that time, nearly all the townspeople had been herded to the center. The Snivy disappeared as he shot through the crowd, elody following closely after.

_Just made him run from me?_

Melody navigated through the crowd until she saw a flash of green.

"Here you-"

She stopped. It was a boy with long green hair, white clothing with black under armor, a strange necklace and a white and black cap. He looked back at her, teal meeting ice blue.

"Yes?" he asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Never mind. Have you seen a Snivy? He seems to have gotten away from me..."

"Perhaps he ran because he didn't want to be enslaved."

Melody blinked in mild surprise. "I don't-"

"Greetings everyone. Thank you for lending me your ears."

Melody and the strange boy looked up to see many people who looked like knights at either side of an oldish man with long green-grey hair, red eyes, clothing that looked more like a rook and a strange looking staff.

"My name is Ghetsis, and I am here representing Team Plasma. I would like to talk to you all about Pokemon Liberation."

This was met with a buzz of questions, many people very confused. Melody began to get a sinking feeling in her gut.

Ghetsis moved to the right as he spoke. _"_I'm sure most of you believe that we humans and Pokémon are partners that have come to live together because we want and need each other. However... Is that really the truth? Have you ever considered that perhaps we humans... only assume that this is the truth?"

He moved to his original place as he continued to speak. "Pokémon are subject to the selfish commands of Trainers... They get pushed around when they are our "partners" at work... Can anyone say with confidence that there is no truth in what I'm saying?"

This brought up many hushed exclamations. Melody said nothing, but her grip on Kayuki's capsule on her belt became tighter.

Ghetsis moved to the left now. "Now, ladies and gentlemen, Pokémon are different from humans. They are living beings that contain unknown potential. They are living beings from whom we humans have much to learn. Tell me, what is our responsibility toward these wonderful beings called Pokémon?"

"What could it be?"

"Liberation?"

Ghetsis moved back to his original place, sweeping his arm to the side in a wide gesture, his voice ringing. "That's right! We must liberate the Pokémon! Then, and only then, will humans and Pokémon truly be equals. Everyone, I end my words here today by imploring you to consider the relationship between people and Pokémon... and the correct way to proceed. We sincerely appreciate your attention."

SMACK!

A stunned collective gasp echoed throughout the crowd. Ghetsis had just been smack across the face, leaving a red imprint on his face and the beginnings of a bruise. The crowd parted, revealing the slapper. Melody became pale as she realized it was _Percy_ up there. The little Snivy was glaring at the old man with nothing short of loathing as he snarled at him angrily.

Then, much to Melody's shock/ horror, Percy grabbed her wrist with his other vine, dragging her forward to where he was, continuing to snap at Ghetsis as he gestured to her before jumping on her shoulder and hugging her to his with his tiny hands before giving one final nod. Ghetsis simply looked at them with a flat expression, while Melody wished wholeheartedly she could melt into the ground.

They said nothing afterwards but the Plasma people packed up, leaving the people to ponder over the man's words. Thankful their attention was diverted, Melody scooped up the little Smug-leaf and moved to a more isolated place. She rushed down some stairs leading to a secluded alley, where only a few scrapes of garbage, a trash can and an abandoned apartment building were the only witnesses.

"Don't run away like that again, you made me very worried," Melody told him sternly. Percy rolled his eyes slightly but nodded.

_Tap._

Melody looked behind at the noise, seeing the boy from before.

"Do you want something?" she asked, almost afraid to hear the answer, moving her hand subconsciously to Kayuki's premier ball.

"ThatSnivyjustnowassaying-" the boy spat out, slurring his words together and sounding like a motorboat.

"Hold on, you're talking too fast," Melody cut him off.

"Ah! I am so very sorry, I am trying to stop talking like that, but it is very hard!" The boy exclaimed, smiling sheepishly.

"...right."

"Anyways, I heard Percy- I mean Snivy's voice! When he was yelling at F- Ghetsis and Team Plasma!" The boy exclaimed, waving his hands frantically.

Melody blinked in surprise but besides that, remained composed. This certainly wasn't an ordinary person. She wasn't sure if all the of him was, well, sane.

_Is he one of those people who claim to be whisperers?_

"...is that good?" Melody asked tentatively.

"Of course! I can barely hear their voices even when outside their poke-balls, so hearing Snivy talk made me happy!" the boy seemed to beam at this as he reached out a hand to pet Percy. Percy, much to Melody's surprise, allowed the boy to pet him. He then blinked and looked confused as he met Melody's eyes.

"Um, have I told you my name?" he asked.

"No-"

"Ah! How rude of me! I apologize for that!"

The boy then bowed. "My name is Natural. It is a pleasure to meet you, miss."

Melody tried not to stare, but it's not every day some one bows to you.

"Melody," She held out her hand to Natural. Natural looked at her hand in confusion.

"Why are you holding your hand out?" he asked.

_Are you serious._

"Because it's customary for two people meeting to shake hands. And before you ask, no I don't know why we do it, we just do."

Natural blinked, then held out his hand hesitantly before grasping a hold of Melody's and shaking it.

Melody frowned at the boy's behavior. _What kind of person acts like this?_

"Melody."

At that moment, a black and violet blur slammed into Percy. Percy recovered and faced a Purrloin with it's hackles raised.

"What are you-?!" Melody began, looking alarmed.

"I wish to hear your Pokemon's voices again! You cannot refuse!" Natural's voice rang out as Purrloin aimed another attack at Percy.

"If you wanted to battle, then say so!" Melody retorted, irritation sparking in her eyes as she nodded to Percy.

Percy jumped out of the way and slapped a vine across Purrloin's torso, slamming it across the grass. Purrloin got up and growled softly, making Percy lower his vines somewhat. Just enough for Purrloin to attack him again. Claws raked across Percy's back, causing him to cry out. But then an angry expression crossed Percy's face and without warning, his vines lashed out and struck Purrloin so fast and so unexpected, Purrloin didn't have any time to dodge and was sent bouncing off the grass and then skidded onto the side walk. Purrloin struggled to get up, but in the end, flopped down unconscious.

"Ah!"

Natural ran to the knocked-out Purrloin. Melody walked up to him as well. Natural ran a hand over Purrloin's limp body, saying nothing. Melody glanced at Percy, who still held his defiant expression as he looked at Natural and herself, then tentatively approached the younger (_Is he younger than I am? I can't tell yet.._) boy.

"Is your-?"

At that, Natural lashed out at her, grabbing Melody's wrist tightly. Melody recoiled in surprise at how sudden the gesture was and how much it _hurt_.

"He is not my Pokemon, he is my friend. I do not own him." Natural said sternly before scooping up the cat with his other arm.

"Okay then; is Purrloin all right?" Melody tried to pull her hand from his grip, but the skinny kid had more strength than she thought.

Natural glared at her, disgust reflecting in his eyes as he looked at her.

_What's his problem? _Melody thought, frowning back.

"He got hurt in a battle, of course he's not all right!" Natural retorted angrily and-

_Is he crying?!_

Yes indeed, tears were pricking the boy's eyes as he hugged Purrloin to him, but the utter hypocrisy that he displayed was not lost on Melody.

"Why are you so upset about this? You are the one who wanted to battle after all. Technically, it's your fault that it-" Melody noticed a light growl come from Natural when she referred to the Purrloin as it, "-he or she got hurt, wouldn't you agree?"

"Well-I-just-"

"And what was that about me, or anyone for that matter, enslaving Pokemon? The relationship between Pokemon and people are completely mutual, since we each have something the other doesn't. Pokemon aren't so weak as to let themselves be bullied by weakling humans; if they wished to be free, they would have taken means to do so long ago."

Natural said nothing but let got of Melody's hand, the top part of his face shadowed.

_What a strange person. Its like he doesn't even understand his own logic._

"Even if what you say is true, there are still many people whose relationship with Pokemon isn't as gentle. And for that reason, I'm going to change the world," he stated, rising to his feet, "for my friends. I'm sorry if I hurt your hand."

With that, he turned away with Purrloin still in his arms and walked up the stairs. But before he was out of range, Melody could hear him murmur under his breath.

_"Another unsolvable formula."_

"...I'm not even going to bother asking what that was about."

* * *

"Percy, I'm very proud of how you're handling yourself in battle and even more impressed with beating those trainers...

But could you try not to knock out every Pokemon we see?"

Melody, Kayuki and Percy were on Route 2, where they were resting from training. Melody had tried to catch another Pokemon, but Percy had a different agenda. In other words, he beat up anything caught in his path, leaving behind many unconscious Pokemon in his wake.

Kayuki's eyes glowed briefly as Percy replied, her psychic powers translating his words in Melody's head.

*You've got me, why would you need anyone else?*

Melody ran her fingers through her black hair, trying to keep calm.

"I know you're getting stronger and you'll probably become possibly the strongest out there at this rate-" Percy's grin spread across his face again, "-but at some point, you might not be able to handle it and that is why we need more team-members, which is also why you knocking out every Pokemon in the wild will do more harm than good."

Percy rolled his eyes and gave a huff. *Fine...*

Melody looked ahead to see a small city at the end of the path. "Finally."

Striaton City.

* * *

Wow, I made a long chapter... Anyways, I'm nearly finished with Code Geass R2. I'm at episode 21. It's awesome but I hate how Lelouch is constantly making himself a scapegoat! That reminds me once how my mom scolded my little sister for blaming herself completely for an accident. She said that when you pull all the blame onto yourself when most or some of it isn't your fault and you beat yourself up over it, that it's considered vanity. I really didn't understand until Lelouch lied to Suzaku and shifted all the hate onto himself.

Yeah, I put chapters two and three together because I was annoyed with how short I made them originally. Expect these chapters to be as long as about four thousand to six thousand words.

Beta'd as of 6/19/13

Anyways, please review!


	3. Natural

Next chapter!

* * *

"Well, that was a complete waste of my time."

Melody frowned as she watched Team Plasma and Ghetsis leave. The people were all very troubled at the old man's speech. The idea that humans might just only be using Pokemon for their own selfish whims and not even acknowledging their feelings was a lot to take in. She found Percy at least, after the little Snivy had gone up to the front of the crowd, slapped Ghetsis with his vines and yell something angrily that no one understood.

At that, Melody had gone to the front and Percy immediately hoisted himself onto her shoulder, glaring at the Plasma people. Melody wasn't used to so many eyes on her, but forced herself not to look embarrassed. After the other townsfolk left, Melody turned her attention to the grass snake.

"Don't run away like that again, alright? Or at least let me know," Melody told him sternly. Percy rolled his eyes slightly but nodded.

"See? Percy didn't run away." Melody felt a smug smile on her face as she looked at the boy's expression.

Then, Melody noticed that he was looking at her with a powerful intent.

"Yes?"

"ThatSnivyjustnowassaying-"

"Hold on, you're talking too fast."

"Ah! I am so very sorry, I am trying to stop talking like that, but it is very hard!" The boy exclaimed, smiling sheepishly.

"...right."

"Anyways, I heard Percy- I mean Snivy's voice! When he was yelling at Ghetsis and Team Plasma!" The boy exclaimed, waving his hands frantically.

Melody blinked in surprise but besides that, remained composed. This certainly wasn't an ordinary person. She wasn't sure if all the of him was, well, sane.

"...is that good?"

"Of course! I can barely hear their voices even when outside their poke-balls, so hearing Snivy talk made me happy!" the boy seemed to beam at this as he reached out a hand to pet Percy. Percy, much to Melody's surprise, allowed the boy to pet him. He then blinked and looked confused as he met Melody's eyes.

"Um, have I told you my name?"

"No-"

"Ah! How rude of me! I apologize for that!" The boy then bowed. "My name is Natural. It is a pleasure to meet you, miss."

Melody tried not to stare, but it's not every day some one bows to you.

"Melody. Likewise." She held out her hand to Natural. Natural looked at her hand in confusion.

"Why are you holding your hand out?"

"Because it's customary for two people meeting to shake hands. And before you ask, no I don't know why we do it, we just do."

Natural blinked, then held out his hand hesitantly before grasping a hold of Melody's and shaking it.

Melody frowned. _What kind of person acts like this?_

"Melody?"

"Yes?"

At that moment, a black and violet blur slammed into Percy. Percy recovered and faced a Purrloin with it's hackles raised.

"What are you...?"

"I wish to hear your Pokemon's voices again! You cannot refuse!" Natural's voice rang out as Purrloin aimed another attack at Percy.

"If you wanted to battle, then say so!" Melody said, irritation sparking in her eyes as she nodded to Percy.

Percy jumped out of the way and slapped a vine across Purrloin's torso, slamming it across the grass. Purrloin got up and growled softly, making Percy lower his vines somewhat. Just enough for Purrloin to attack him again. Claws raked across Percy's back, causing him to wince. But then an angry expression crossed Percy's face and without warning, his vines lashed out and struck Purrloin so fast and so unexpected, Purrloin bounced off the grass and skidded onto the side walk. Purrloin struggled to get up, but in the end, flopped down cold.

"Ah!" Natural exclaimed as he ran to the knocked-out Purrloin. Melody walked up to him as well. Natural ran a hand over Purrloin's limp body, saying nothing. Melody glanced at Percy, who still held his defiant expression as he looked at Natural and herself, then turned her attention to the younger (_Is he younger than I am? I can't tell yet.._) boy.

"Is your-?" At that, Natural lashed out at her, grabbing Melody's wrist tightly.

"He is not my Pokemon, he is my friend. I do not own him." Natural said sternly before scooping up the cat with his other arm.

"OK then... is Purrloin alright?" Melody tried to pull her hand from his grip, but the skinny kid had more strength than she thought. Natural frowned at her, disgust reflecting in his eyes as he looked at her. _What's his problem? _Melody thought, returning the frown.

"He got hurt in a battle, of course he's not alright."

"Why are you so upset about this? You are the one who wanted to battle after all. Technically, it's your fault that it-" Melody noticed a light growl come from Natural when she referred to the Purrloin as it. "-he or she got hurt, wouldn't you agree?"

"Well-I-just-" Natural became very flustered as he tried to talk, but Melody cut him off again.

"And what was that about me enslaving my Pokemon? The relationship between Pokemon and people are completely mutual, since we each have something the other doesn't. So, why did you say that?"

Melody looked at him closely, ice blue meeting dark teal. Natural said nothing but let got of Melody's hand.

"Even if what you say is true, there are still many people whose relationship with Pokemon isn't as gentle. And for that reason, I'm going to change the world. For my friends. I'm sorry if I hurt your hand." He said softly as he turned to go to the Pokemon center.

"No problem..." Melody found herself saying.

_What a strange person. Its like he doesn't even understand his own logic..._

"Melody."

Melody glanced up to Natural who was looking at her, a tiny smile on his face.

"I hope we can meet again. You.. are a very interesting formula, you know."

With that, Natural entered the Pokemon center, leaving Melody and Percy alone.

"...I'm not even going to bother asking what that was about."

* * *

"Percy, I'm very proud of how you're handling yourself in battle and even more impressed with beating those trainers...

But could you try not to knock out every Pokemon we see?" Melody asked sweat-dropping.

The two were on Route 2, where they were resting from training. Melody had tried to catch another Pokemon, but Percy had a different agenda.

In other words, he beat up anything caught in his path.

Percy rolled his eyes a if to say, *You've got me, why would you need anyone else?*

Melody ran her fingers through her black hair, trying to keep calm.

"I know you're getting stronger and you'll probably become possibly the strongest out there at this rate-" Percy's grin spread across his face again. "-but at some point, you might not be able to handle it and that is why we need more team-members, which is also why you knocking out every Pokemon in the wild will do more harm than good."

Percy rolled his eyes and gave a huff, *Fine...*

"Well, we can at least rest up."

Melody looked ahead to see a small city at the end of the path.

"Striaton City."

* * *

At one point, I'll slow down the up-dating, but here's chapter 3.

I finished Code Geass. (Wipes away tears) Why Lulu?! Why did you have to die?! Oh wait, technically he didn't die! For those of you who are confused by my statement, look up the original ending of Code Geass R2.

Reviews are appreciated and, in my case, craved like you wouldn't believe.


	4. Dreamyard

Chapter four... I will slow down the up-dating schedule at some point, but I have been having this idea in my head for a long time now, so I really wanna write out as much as I can...

* * *

**Next day...**

"...I think we may have taken a wrong turn."

Melody looked around the surrounding area. She, Kayuki and Percy had been exploring the city after they woke up and somehow ended up in an unknown area. It was a clearing with parts of the forest torn away and in their place, was the ruins of a building, barrels of sinister looking chemicals, and... something about the air was wrong, like it had a presence.

Kayuki and Percy were out of their poke-balls, looking around with Melody. Percy was enjoying himself at least. It was around high noon and the sun was at it's highest. So the little grass snake was bathing in the warm light, a content smile on his face.

_Percy, you're going to burn yourself if you stay out in the sun too long._

Kayuki looked over at Percy. Percy snorted and flopped onto his other side so it could bask in the warm sunlight.

"Snivys use the sun for photosynthesis. They can even become faster because of it during battle." Melody read the entry of the pokedex.

_So that's the pokedex. Used for recording data about Pokemon..._

"And not just that either." Kayuki blinked in surprise at this. Even Percy perked up his ear slits for what Melody was saying.

"This shows the moves they can use in battle, their current level, their strengths and weaknesses type-wise and stat-wise. They even say what gender they are...! This pokedex is really something, no wonder few people are chosen to use it," Melody said, looking at the machine with a new respect.

_This thing...Professor Oak was truly a genius to come up with this. And the other professors I've heard of made adjustments and now, here it is as it is. _

(Scuffle scuffle)

"Hmm?"

Melody glanced up at the sound. It came from behind the thorn vines blocking the entrance. Melody put away the pokedex and walked toward it. On closer inspection, Melody realized the sound was a humming, not from a machine though. Then, some yelling.

"Alright, we found you, Munna, now hand over the Dream Mist!"

The humming became higher.

"Who are you and what are you doing?" Another voice asked.

_Leon._

"Who are we? Team Plasma of course!"

"What are we doing? Munna give off Dream Mist and we're trying to get it so we can get the people to liberate their Pokemon!"

A crunching noise and a squeak of pain.

"Come on, spit it out already!"

"What the hell do you think you're doing?! You can't just kick a Pokemon like that! Knock it off right now!"

Kayuki eyes glowed eerily and Percy hissed angrily *Whoever's there, they're hurting a Pokemon over there!*

Melody said nothing, her eyes fixed onto the direction of the voices.

_Melody? What are you-?_

Kayuki looked at her trainer, then her eyes widened as she realized what Melody was thinking.

Melody rolled down the sleeves on her jacket and the legs of her jeans and proceed to squeeze her way through the thorns. Percy looked up in surprise, shouting at Melody, *H-hey, you'll get hurt if you-!*

Melody said nothing, continuing her way through the thorns, wincing as the sharp points dug through her clothing and drew blood in some places.

_It would have hurt more if I hadn't rolled down my sleeves and legs..._

After coming through, Melody took a moment to compose herself and take a few breaths. Even with the extra protection, the pain was still burning.

A young woman in a Plasma uniform had tossed out a Purrloin at Leon, who also sent out Tamaki, who growled at the Purrloin.

_Perhaps Leon can handle himself after all-_

Melody felt a rough hand grab her from behind and was pulled toward another grunt, this time a male who had a Patrat.

"Hey, you with the Krokorok! Stand down and leave Leslie alone, or this brat's gonna get hurt!" The grunt shouted at Leon.

At that point, Leon saw Melody and his eyes widened.

Melody said nothing, but cursed herself for allowing herself to be caught.

_What now?_

At that moment, three voices rang out.

"You come into our city and betray our hospitality, then you hurt the Pokemon that is protected by the ruins and now you're taking hostages? This will not stand!"

Suddenly, a vine slapped down on the male grunt's head, knocking him down. Melody quickly moved away from him.

"Selim!" The female grunt exclaimed.

"Damn, that hurt!" Selim snarled, rubbing his head, a bruise forming on his head, poking up the hood in a half-ball shape.

_Who...are these guys?! _Melody whirled around so she could face them.

Three young men were in waiter uniforms. One had red eyes and hair that looked like a flame, another had blue eyes and wavy air and the third had green eyes and hair with a tuft of hair like a sprout.

"Chili!" The red-haired man then punched his fist in the air.

"Cress!" The blue-haired man then gestured his palm upwards.

"C-Cilan!" The green-haired man pointed up.

"We are the Striation City gym leaders, and we will not allow you to continue with...whatever you're doing!" They all shouted at the same time.

_Unbelievable..._

Chili then ran over to Leon's side pulling out a poke-ball. Cress quickly pinned down Selim and Cilan walked over to Melody.

"Are you alright, miss? You're not hurt are you?" The young man asked gently, placing a hand on her shoulder (_They're all wearing white gloves)._

"I'm not hurt." Melody said, pushing his hand off her shoulder.

_Just my pride..._

_Melody! Here you are! _

Kayuki and Percy quickly ran up to her and hugged the 18-year old.

"You guys..."

_"We forgive you for going in so recklessly". Percy's words, not mine._

Percy gave Melody a small glare and Melody nodded.

_I'm sorry too._

The three then quickly ran towards Leon and the red-haired man, who had just finished off the other Plasma member.

"You gym leaders-! How dare you meddle in our quest to save the Pokemon!" The female grunt hissed as she returned her Purrloin to it's poke-ball.

"If you were trying to save the Pokemon ,then why were you hurting that Munna?!" Leon snapped as Munna shuddered in his arms.

Melody came by their side at this point, meeting Leon's eyes for a moment. Brown reflected relief and ice blue returned it for a brief moment before they focused on the female before them.

"Or...are you just trying to save only Pokemon that are with humans?" Melody suppressed a smile. Leon really was good at asking questions.

The female's eyes blazed with rage. "You-!"

"WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING GOOFING OFF?!" A voice roared on the left side of them. Melody's calm nearly shattered as she turned around to face the yeller.

_Ghetsis._

Then.. another appeared on the right.

"We, Team Plasma, shall separate Pokemon from the people!"

Then, both disappeared and another Ghetsis showed in front of them. Only this Ghetsis's patient and benevolent face and tone was gone, replaced with a cold fury that made Melody's blood freeze.

"If you cannot fulfill your duties..."

Selim and Leslie looked downright terrified at this point.

"This is...when Ghetsis was trying amass our comrades..."

"And when...he was trying to use his speeches to convince people to free the Pokemon..."

"And this is when another assignment was bungled and he was about to sic his Hydreigon on the two who bungled...!"

"In any case, we need to get back and apologize! Maybe he'll spare us!"

With that, Selim and Leslie slammed past the five of them and shot out of the ruins.

Then, Ghetsis became a pink vapor and was sucked back into the Munna's nose.

_That really is something you don't see every day..._

* * *

I'm reading the Code Geass manga again and I'm at chapter four, page 11. It's one of my favorite pages. You know, one of the biggest differences between the manga and anime is that the manga doesn't have the Knightmare Frames. I also like Suzaku and Lelouch's relationship better in it as well...

Reviews are appreciated and craved!


	5. Inquiries

Chapter 5... OK, I promise the up-dating WILL slow down at one point, but I, frankly, am on a roll after keeping this story bottled up in my head for so long...

* * *

"Oh! Is that-?!"

Melody quickly darted to the side as someone came up behind her. It was a young woman with long black hair and a flower pin keeping the bangs off her face, glasses and a similar get-up to Professor Juniper. The young woman then pulled out a jar and trapped some of the remaining vapor in the jar, then screwed on a lid to trap it.

"Thank you so very much Leon! You did an excellent job in getting me the dream mist!"

"No problem, Professor Fennel."

Melody glanced at Leon, the obvious question reflected in her gaze. Leon returned the gaze.

_Professor Fennel wanted me to get some dream mist for some sort of project._

_Ah._

"Well, ciao! I've got lots a work to do!" Fennel chirped, waving good-bye to the five people.

"We have to get back to the gym. Feel free to challenge us if you wish, young lady," Cress said politely.

"And if you're wondering, this guy already kicked Cilan's ass, so that's why we only said it to you!" Chili cackled, smacking Cilan on the back.

"W-well, we'll be seeing you at the gym then, miss. I-if you're coming, that is..." Cilan said, rubbing his head sheepishly.

With that, the three gym leaders left the ruins.

Melody glanced at Leon.

"So...Leon...just what is this place supposed to be?" Melody asked. She knew this much about the difference in Cheren and Leon's intellect: while Cheren couldn't be beaten at technology, math, reading, spelling, and especially Pokemon, Leon beat him hands down when it came to history. And P.E.

"This place is called the Dreamyard. They used to experiment with the dream mist Munna and Musharna, that's Munna's evolution, and use it to manipulate people's dreams and hearts. But it was shut down nearly fifty years ago because of the terrible treatment of the Munnas and Mushanas, as well as the people the dream mist was used on."

Melody blinked in surprise. The only people she knew who were bad to Pokemon were Team Rocket, Neo Team Rocket, and Team Galactic. So maybe Natural knew what he was talking about when he said people hurt Pokemon. Kayuki frowned.

_This is troublesome..._

"...I'm just glad your not hurt is all." Leon finished saying. Melody glanced up in surprise as Leon enveloped her in his arms.

"That guy, I won't forgive him for trying to use you like that..." Leon's voice became dangerously low and his arms tightened around her.

"Well...I'm fine now and the only ones who got hurt were those two," Melody said calmly. _Selim and Leslie were their names. So they aren't just all clones, like I thought._

Leon withdrew and placed a small kiss on her cheek, his smile back in place. out of the corner of her eye, she saw Percy fake gagging noises. Melody felt a twinge of relief. It always made her uneasy when Leon would become serious. A carefree smile suited him best, is what she thought.

"You're right about that, Mel. Hey, are you going to challenge the gym? The best way to become strong is to challenge gym leaders, after all!" Leon said, grinning.

"...no."

"Huh?!"

"No, I don't want to. I don't have time to waste with that. Besides I decided a long time ago that I would get stronger on my own terms." Melody said softly.

"So no gym leader challenges?"

"Not until I have enough time."

Leon blinked in confusion, but his smile didn't falter.

"Well, it's you journey, after all! Let's get out of here, shall we-? Eh?" The Munna brushed against Leon's arm, humming softly.

"You...do you wanna come with me?"

The pink Pokemon looked at his face and nodded slowly. Leon's grin widened.

"OK then! But I'll have to battle you first, is that OK?" Another nod.

"Kenshin, come on out!" Leon tossed out a poke-ball, revealing instead of Oshawatt, a Dewott.

Kenshin pulled out his scallops and shot toward Munna, landing a blow. Munna winced softly, then sent a wave of pink energy which enveloped Kenshin, causing him to wince and cradle his head. After a few moments, he shook it off. Leon then tossed a great ball at the Munna and a white light pulled it in. It shook once, twice, thrice, then clicked.

Leon pick up the poke-ball and released the Munna. Then, he pulled out his pokdex and scanned the Munna. A robotic voice then began to emit from the pokedex.

_Munna, the dream eating Pokemon. Munna always float in the air, and the people whose dreams are eaten by Munna forget about them. When it eats a pleasant dream, it excels pink vapor from it's nostrils. Gender: Male. Level: 10. Ability: Forewarn. Moves: Defense curl, psywave, lucky chant, and yawn. Weak against dark, bug and steel. Strong against fighting and poison._

"Right...say, how do you feel about the name Yoh?" Leon asked Munna. Munna blinked up at him, then nodded, smiling.

"OK! Yoh it is!" Leon returned Yoh to the capsule, and Melody returned Kayuki and Percy to their poke-balls.

The two made their way to the entrance, which was still covered in thorns.

"Well, this is gonna be fun, eh Mel?" Leon grinned sarcastically as he pushed his way through the vegetation. Melody stared at the thorns and Leon.

_Something seems off to me, but what?_

Her mind went back to when she saw the gym leaders. Leon's clothing had already shown signs of the thorns pricking him through his clothing and scratches on his face, hands and neck, dirt and dust caked on his sneakers.

Melody glanced around the yard and up at the columns and walls. The roof had long since caved in, exposing the building further. There was dirt encasing the walls, dust everywhere on the floor, other forms of vegetation growing all around and on the ruined building.

_The gym leaders...how did they get past the thorns without getting scratched? I saw the placard and read about the Pokemon they use, and there is no way their Pokemon could have gotten past that without either tearing down the thorns or going over the walls. And there's dust and dirt almost everywhere, but not even their shoes were dirty..._

_How on Earth did they manage that?_

"Oi, Mel! You need any help over there?" Leon yelled from the other side, snapping Melody out of her thoughts.

"No, I'm alright! I'll be over in a moment!"

* * *

_Well, it seems you're about done with today, yes?_

Kayuki smiled at Melody as the Astral body Pokemon stretched her limbs out. The three of them, trainer and Pokemon, had left Striation City that day and were now spending the night in the small daycare center a few miles away.

"Yes..."

Percy was already snoring in his poke-ball, oblivious to the conversation.

_Melody, do you think we'll run across these Team Plasma people again?_

Melody shrugged, pulling the covers closer to her body.

"I can't say. That depends on their plans and how many of them there are...but I don't want to think about that right now. I'm on this journey for a reason and I can't be bothered with their crap anyways-"

"Uh, miss?" Melody glanced up to see the old woman who ran the daycare peek into the spare room.

"You're a trainer, yes?"

"I am..."

"Then you had better see this, and quickly."

Melody frowned, but got out of the bed and followed the old woman into the daycare room. There was the counter where money was handed over to pay for the watching of trainer's Pokemon, some benches and tables for waiting, a P.C. and a T.V on a shelf over-looking the room. A reporter was talking-

"-and trainers everywhere are starting to question if they should continue to be partners with the Pokemon they've trained. It seems that Team Plasma's words are changing people's perspective on their relationship with Pokemon. And-"

Suddenly, the screen started to get static. The reporter continued talking but the static became more pronounced, revealing the new picture. A picture that looked like-

"What?" Melody shot up from her chair, knocking it over.

The screen became static and a few moments later, the Team Plasma emblem fully showed up.

The picture then faded to a person sitting on a pure white throne. Said person wore a black mask and golden crown on their head. The clothing was very regal, pure white fabric formed a jacket nearly reaching the ground, black dress shirt with white tie, black pants and white lace-up combat boots. Then the person began to speak, their voice rasped and metallic.

"I am the Leader of Team Plasma: N Harmonia Gropius. I have come to tell you all the truth.

Humans take their relationship with Pokemon for granted. They always have them by their side, no matter what. Even if the human is so foolish or misguided, the Pokemon stays by the human's side, no matter how they suffer. Do you not think that we as humans owe the Pokemon a great debt? And what better way to pay off that debt than to make them happy?

And that is why Team Plasma is here. We want more than anything is to repay the debt humanity owes: By allowing the Pokemon humans have captured for their own selfish purposes to return to their homes,friends and families. By allowing the Pokemon to return to where they came from, you will fulfill their deepest wish and happiness. And I-"

At that, N stood up gesturing to the Team Plasma members who surrounded his throne on all sides.

"-along with my comrades, shall save the Pokemon! Those who choose to oppose us, you simply make us stronger! Those who choose to join us, you shall demonstrate true heart and want for Pokemon to be happy!" With that, the plasma members began cheering loudly.

"FOR THE POKEMON!"

With that, the video ended, cutting back to the reporter who was now talking about the weather. Melody said nothing, disbelief all over her features.

"Oh my, what a strange group of people." The old lady said thoughtfully. She noticed the raven-haired teenager quivering slightly.

"Dear, are you-?"

"'Great debt'? Selfish purposes'? What a load of crap this is..." A sneer crossed Melody's face.

_This...is nothing more than a scam, of that I am certain._

Melody went back to her room, still feeling rage in her.

_I've got to calm down..._

She then pulled out her notebook and pen. Maybe some writing would calm her down.

_Professor Fennel. Age: ?. Hair: dark blue. Eye: blue. Personality: hardworking, eccentric, and enthusiastic. Status: Professor._

_Chili, Cress, Cilan. Ages: All seem to be around 15. Hair: Chili-red, Cress-blue, Cilan-green. Eye: same as hair. Personalities: All seem equally flamboyant, Chili: hot-headed and rash, Cress: cool and calm, Cilan: shy and gentle. Status: Striaton city gym leaders._

_Natural. Age: 15-18. Hair: pale green. Eye: Teal. Personality: to be determined. Seems to think that Pokemon would be better off if they weren't "enslaved" by humans. Ideals similar to Team Plasma._

Melody stared down at the paper. She never realized this before, but all the entries in her notebook were very small. They held no other information other than physical and personality traits and what they meant to her.

_Perhaps I should get more information about the others..._

Finally calmed down, Melody set her book and pen in her bag again and went to sleep.

* * *

"Bring them forth." N ordered coolly.

With that, three Team Plasma members left the throne room. N leaned back in the throne, feeling fury in his heart. He wanted to help the Pokemon, not hurt them. And he certainly didn't want his own subjects to do the hurting.

_It seems that in order for them to understand just what they must do, an example must be given._

The doors boomed open and the Team Plasma members roughly dragged in Selim and Leslie, who were tied up. They no longer wore their Team Plasma uniforms, but instead wore black straight jackets with straps tying their arms and legs. They were utterly trapped. The grunts holding them then tossed the man and woman in front of the steps of the throne.

"Selim Collins and Leslie Willow, you have violated the very principals that Team Plasma is trying to get out to the world. You have hurt an innocent Pokemon for the sake of trying to manipulate the hearts of the few people who might come to our side."

"Please Sire, forgive us! We-we didn't think, we just wanted to help-!"

"Save your excuses. Ghetsis sent his most trusted spies and they witnessed EVERYTHING." N said in a terrible voice.

Ghetsis nodded to confirm this. After the nod, three shapes appeared behind him. All three were male and wore masks over their faces of different colors and had long white hair reaching to their waists. Their clothing was all black, with the area of their abdomen showing past gray transparent fabric.

"Please...please...!"

A grunt then pulled their heads back, stuffing their mouths with a gag ball and then tying it around their heads.

N then snapped his fingers and Ghetsis stepped forward. The old man eyed the two unfortunates coldly.

Selim sobbed through his gag desperately. Leslie said nothing, silent terror-stricken tears running down her face.

Ghetsis then released a gigantic Pokemon. As it materialized, it roared loudly, revealing itself to be a Hydreigon. It turned it's middle head and fixed it's eyes on Selim and Leslie, who trembled and began whimpering through their gags. Hydreigon reared to it's full height and then blasted the two with a blast of blue energy. The whimpering became full out muffled screaming as the energy enveloped the two. It lasted for a good few minutes.

"Enough.

Ghetsis then returned Hydreigon to the poke-ball. The floor around Selim and Leslie was scorched and ruined but the two were completely unharmed. Selim and Leslie looked up, eyes filled with relief.

"I will not kill my own subjects. But if there is a repeat of this situation, then there will be severe consequences. And not just to these two." At that, N raised his voice so everyone to could hear him. "I am addressing this to all of you, understand?"

"YES, MY LORD N!"

* * *

Oh right, for those of you who are wondering why I titled my story "Knight of Truth", it's because of something I heard Lelouch say to C.C once. I forget which episode but it's always stuck with me.

"What better hero is there than a knight?"

He makes a valid point. Knights are chivalrous, brave, loyal, honest, and protect people. Or at least that's how they're portrayed. And I thought about how Natural wanted to protect the Pokemon from bad people and how the main character, or in this case, Melody, will eventually try to protect the bond between Pokemon and humans.

I'm a little too hooked onto Code Geass right now. Even though I finished the manga and anime, it keeps coming back into my head when I'm plotting, so it's a little annoying. But it shows just how much I like it!


	6. Battle

Ch. 6...

* * *

_Isn't that...?_ Melody looked up ahead. The person near the beginning of Route 3 looked an awful lot like-

At that, the person turned to face her. Melody stopped near the fences as she took in the person's appearance.

"? ...Oh it's you, Ice-doll," Cheren approached the girl and stopped by her side.

A lot of people, regardless if they knew her name or not, referred to her as "Ice-doll", due to her being a loner, never talking to anyone save the teachers, turning down every invitation greeting or offer a student ever gave her, and her naturally cool and calm attitude. Even the teachers, as well as the children not yet enrolled into the school and other adults in town, referred to her as such. She'd never let anyone know this, but it unnerved Melody that so many people didn't know her real name except for a select few, few being Kayuki, Leon, Professor Juniper, surprisingly Bianca, and now Natural.

"Yes, and you're Cheren, Leon's friend. Am I right?"

Cheren blinked, then smiled slightly.

"More or less. I'm surprised you know my name, or even Leon's."

"I know a lot more than people give me credit for. Besides, I make it my business to know about people's names (_and other various info, _Melody added silently)in order to be polite." Melody felt the notebook in her pocket shift slightly.

Cheren gave a small snicker, a smirk on his lips. Melody frowned.

"What's so funny?"

"I just find it amusing that you actually care about keeping names. You, who have never even bothered to attempt social activity, Ice-doll."

Melody's eyes narrowed slightly. What was with him? What had she done to make him sneer at her like that?

"You know, I recently got the Trio badge and I want to test out the strength of my Pokemon. Care for a battle?" Cheren asked, pulling out a poke-ball from his belt.

_Anything to wipe that look off your face._

Melody tossed out Percy and Cheren also brought out his Snivy.

Percy smirked at the Snivy before shooting over in a head-on attack. But Snivy easily leaped out of the way, slapping a vine down on Percy and slamming him onto the ground. Percy let out a cry, more from surprise than pain. He tried to slam the Snivy with his vine, but he just jumped out of the way. Snivy slammed down his vine again. Percy jumped out of the way, but then the vine made a U-turn and slapped him across the face. Finally, fed up, Percy grabbed the vine before it could retreat and began to spin Snivy around until he let go and sent the other grass snake flying into the bushes. Snivy got up, wincing from the fall he took, but Percy didn't give him time to collect himself and he slammed into Snivy full force again and again until he was knocked out.

Cheren's smirk died down, replaced with a frown. Melody kept the smug grin fro rising, since she knew it probably wasn't over just yet.

Cheren then took Snivy back into the capsule and sent out a was about to switch, but Percy shook his head, his smirk in place. Melody nodded back to him as Percy took his stance. Cheren's smirk came back.

"You want to take on Purloin when Snivy's barely holding on? I never thought you of all people were into taking risks like this, Ice-doll."

_No, I'm feeling like having Percy bitch-slap that annoying look off your face, _Melody thoguht, but kept silent. This guy would get his just-desserts soon enough.

Percy looked at the Purrloin, eyes gleaming. Purrloin was unaffected however and slashed his claws against his back. Percy winced, but not from the pain. Then, Percy shot out his two vines at Purloin. He dodged one, but then Percy brought the other with increased force to slam across the purple and black cat's face. Purrloin yowled in pain as he skidded across the dirt road. Cheren gritted his teeth slightly.

"Come on and get up already!" Cheren said angrily. Purrloin got to his feet, hissing angrily at Percy. Percy didn't even try to look smug this time and gave him a flat stare in return.

_This guy hurt her feelings in some way. You don't have to be a genius to see that really hurt Melody.__ And he's gonna pay for that! _Percy silently vowed.

The black and purple cat then shot toward Percy, black energy surrounding him and slammed into Percy' s stomach. This seemed to cause more damage, but Percy shrugged it off and shot his vines at Purrloin again, knocking him out. Cheren gritted his teeth and returned Purrloin to his poke-ball.

"You do know this is far from over, right?"

"I would have to disagree with you on that."

Cheren's frown turned to a glare and he released Siegfried out onto the road. Melody glanced at Percy. He had taken a lot of damage from those two fights. Clearly, Cheren had a reason for acting so confidant. She returned Percy to his capsule and sent out Kayuki.

"Ready?"

Kayuki glanced back and nodded. Melody nodded back to signify she got it. Kayuki faced Siegfried and shot out a black pulse which moved like a wave and hit Siegfried dead on. It did more damage than Cheren expected. Siegfried then sent a disgusting purple wind at Kayuki, causing her to give a small cry of pain. Melody gritted her teeth to keep from snarling at Cheren. Kayuki gazed at Siegfried coolly before unleashing the pulse of dark energy again, knocking Siegfried out.

Melody held back the smug smirk that was threatening to spread across her face as Cheren angrily brought back Siegfried.

"Well, seems you've gotten the Trio badge as well. No wonder you were hard to beat-"

"No I don't."

Cheren did a double take at Melody.

"Excuse me?!"

"I don't plan on challenging the gym leaders of Unova. It would take too much of my time, which I don't have much of." Melody told him.

Cheren stared at her, spluttering.

"But-but-How did-?!"

"Just because you beat some people who hand out pieces of metal doesn't make you stronger, Cheren." Melody said matter-of-factually.

Cheren glared at her and was about to retort when-

"OUT OF OUR WAY!"

Two Plamsa grunts came out of no where and pushed Melody and Cheren out of their way, making Cheren fall onto the dirt road and Melody into the tall grass. She quickly pulled herself up, shaking the grass and dirt off her clothing. Cheren did the same.

"What in Arceus's name was that all about?"

"HEY! CHEREN! MELODY!" someone screamed at the two.

Melody and Cheren turned to see Bianca running toward them with a little girl by her side who was crying.

"Bianca? What's this all about?"

"There were these two Plasma guys-" Bianca stopped to breathe in, chest heaving from the running. "-they-they-"

"They what?!" Cheren and Melody snapped, both growing impatient.

"They took this girl's Minncino! They literally snatched it out of her hands and ran away just a minute ago!"

* * *

I've started reading a Code Geass fanfic called Dauntless ad it's feaking awesome. I'm on chapter 46 and I look forward to reading more when I get the time. Also, I'll be up-dating Sanity is just a point of view soon. And it's a little annoying how few reviews I'm getting. I both need and crave feedback and criticism and compliments, people!


	7. Wellspring Cave

Ch. 7 is up as well. Also, I don't own Pokemon. If I did, I would make Ash age, stop Iris from being a brat, and I would make the Pokemon special manga an anime series. So yeah.

* * *

Melody and Cheren stared, not quite comprehending what Bianca said.

"I thought Team Plasma wanted to liberate Pokemon." Cheren said dumbly.

"Well, this happened anyways. Where did they go, Bianca?" Melody asked, keeping the irritation out of her voice.

"They went down the route over there, by Wellspring cave! Cheren, Melody, you'll get the Pokemon back, right? I'll stay here and watch over this little one." Bianca said, hugging the crying girl close to her.

Melody didn't wait to answer but took off for Wellspring cave.

"Wha-?! Hey, Ice-doll!" Cheren called after her, then took off after the raven-haired girl.

Melody kept running through the route, disgust burning in her stomach. Some liberators! They had just plucked that Pokemon as if it were a piece of fruit.

_Damn it all, they're just like Team Rocket, only with a sad excuse for a justification!_

She stopped in front of the mouth of Wellspring cave. It was at the end of part of route three and clearly, the only place the Plasma grunts could have gone.

"Hey, Ice-doll!" Cheren then stopped by her side, huffing from the running he did. Melody slightly sweat-dropped. The distance between the two points wasn't even tht long, so why Cheren was so tired was beyond the raven-haired girl.

"Are..are your Pokemon's health alright?" Cheren asked, wiping the sweat off his brow. Melody glanced down at the poke-balls that held Kayuki and Percy. Percy was in no shape to fight, and while Kayuki wasn't too damaged, she didn't feel confidant with only one Pokemon able to fight. Still...

"Of course."

She wasn't going to leave this to him of all people. Besides, Kayuki was stronger than any of Cheren's Pokemon.

The two trainers entered the cave. Water dripped from the ceiling and collided with the floor, making soft pit-pat noises. There was a small lake in the cave, expanding well over half the whole layout.

"They can't have gotten far. This cave is more or less a dead end." Cheren said softly, so that his voice wouldn't cause too much of an echo.

"...why are you even here? You seem more like someone who would do this sort of thing for the sake of battling."

She had seen enough of him to know for a fact that Cheren was the kind of person who almost always did favors if there was something in it for him.

"Well, you are right about that. I can get stronger by beating those bothersome guys. But I do want to get that Pokemon back. It's unforgivable that those guys abducted that Pokemon, and from a child no less." Cheren said.

Melody said nothing after that. Perhaps Cheren was less of a jerk than she expected. She would have to write that down later.

At that moment, she spotted the two grunts at the edge of the lake.

"Damn it all! We escaped only to find a dead end?!"

"There's no way we can swim that length either!"

"My my, you guys aren't exactly all that impressive now are you?" Melody's curt voice directed at the two grunts.

"That child couldn't use this Pokemon to it's full potential. Doesn't that make the Pokemon sad? Yours are probably sad as well! But don't worry-"

At that, the two released two Patrats and Purloins.

"-We'll remedy that soon enough!"

Cheren's eyes narrowed and tossed out his Snivy and and Melody also brought out Percy and they immediately started attacking the two. In a few minutes, the Plasma Pokemon were defeated. At that, Percy suddenly collapsed, but not from fainting. Melody quickly scooped up Percy into her arms. Percy gave her an irritated glance. *I...I can still fight...don't...baby me...* He then went limp in her arms.

Melody said nothing, but returned Percy to his poke-ball.

"How...how could we lose when we're in the right?" One of the grunts asked in disbelief.

"Well now, it's about time you return that Pokemon, right?"

"YOU DON'T NEED TO RETURN IT!"

At that, two more grunts showed up behind Cheren and Melody and threw out more Patrats and Purloins.

Melody was about to pull out Kayuki's poke-ball, but Cheren grabbed her wrist to stop her.

"What-"

"I know for a fact that your Gothitelle isn't healed enough to fight. I was able to heal mine before I got here. Are you going to make her fight until exhaustion like your Snivy?" Cheren said stiffly.

Melody stared, not allowing the disbelief and indignation show on her face. Who was he to judge whether HER Pokemon couldn't fight or not?!

Wait.

What she just thought. Wasn't that the same kind of mentality that that N person said that was making Pokemon suffer? She didn't doubt that what Team Plasma was doing was wrong, but was she much better? Percy wasn't in any shape to fight, yet she sent him out. But that was because Percy would be angry if he wasn't able to fight, that much she knew of her starter by now. And Kayuki?

Melody glanced down at Kayuki's poke-ball and at the smaller form of said Pokemon. Pokemon fought for the trainers who caught them out of mutual benefit, and it had been more than once hammered into her head that good trainers don't push their Pokemon too hard. But in the end, Pokemon could decide whether or not to follow their trainers, be it journeying or battling or simply living their lives.

Melody held the poke-ball closer to her face and her question to Kayuki.

_Can you still fight?_

A few seconds passed before the answer.

_For you, always, Mel.  
_

Melody smiled slightly and tossed out Kayuki.

Cheren looked at her in disbelief.

"You said you know for a fact that Kayuki isn't healed enough to fight, but I know for a fact that if she wants to fight, I won't stop her." Melody said, cutting him off.

With that, Kayuki, Snivy, Siegfried, and Purloin were able to take down the rest of the Pokemon.

The Team Plasma grunts were in shock before one gave an angry snarl and thrust the poke-ball he was carrying into Cheren's hands.

"FINE! Take the Pokemon back to that brat, but be aware that it will continue to suffer!"

"Whatever. Come on, what could possibly justify in abducting Pokemon, huh?" Cheren asked, irritation sparking in his eyes.

"Trainers like you two are making the Pokemon suffer. I saw how you made that Snivy battle until it collapsed!" Another grunt snapped, pointing at Melody.

At that, Percy's poke-ball began to emit a faint glow. Melody blinked rapidly to stop the light from hurting her eyes as she released Percy out. When the grass snake materialized, Melody realized that this wasn't the same Pokemon from ten minute ago.

Percy was now a good few inches taller, his limbs looking for like leaves, a flick on the top of his head, and his eyes were a lighter shade of brown.

Melody stared. As did the Plasma grunts and Cheren. It didn't take a genius to see Percy had evolved into...whatever that Pokemon was now. At that, it hit Melody. Percy hadn't collapsed just because he was tired, but from the strain of evolution that was transpiring!

"Trainers bring out the potential of Pokemon. Pokemon, in return, believe in their trainers and both push each other to try their best! Tell what about that makes the Pokemon suffer!" Cheren's voice resonated throughout the cave at the Plasma grunts. Melody said nothing, only realizing that Cheren rejected Team Plasma's propaganda for almost the exact same reason she did.

The Plasma grunts said nothing as they all glared at the two trainers.

"You guys are truly sad. You can't even justify your own ideals? Pathetic." Cheren's tone was laced with disgust.

At that, one of the grunts threw down somethign and the next moment, smoke filled the cave. Melody felt the vapor tickle her throat, causing her to cough. After a minute, the smoke cleared, revealing she and Cheren were alone.

* * *

"Thanks for saving Minty, Mister and Miss!" The little girl then shoved some pale pink poke-balls into Melody and Cheren's hands.

"Heal balls? Thank you very much, little one." Cheren said softly, bowing.

"Thank you." Melody said quickly. How this child had these, Melody didn't know.

"Bye!" Bianca then lead the little girl and her Minncino back to the Daycare.

Melody gave a slight wave good-bye, then noticed Cheren glancing at her, and she lowered her hand.

"Say, you see that dark grass?" Cheren pointed to a patch of grass that was a few shades darker than the grass Melody saw before.

"I do."

"That grass has more Pokemon inside than regular grass, so two at a time may pop up. I'll be taking my leave to Nacrene City for the next gym badge now. See you later, Ice-doll." Cheren then left.

Melody blinked, then pulled out her notebook and pen, adding more info to Cheren's profile.

_Is against Plasma propaganda. Cares about Pokemon more than just for battling. Is very passionate about being a trainer._

"What is that?" A voice asked suddenly. Melody glanced up to the speaker.

Natural.

* * *

Sweet! I'm slowing down alright! I haven't been able to get on very much, what with chores, inconvieniances, and up-coming school, but expect the story to be finished in due time! REVIEW!


	8. New member

Ch. 8 is here~

* * *

Melody quickly masked any surprise as she looked at Natural. She didn't even hear him come up to her!

"What is that?" Natural asked again, cocking his head to the side, eyes locked on the notebook.

"It's none of your business, that's what." Melody then put the notebook and pen in her pocket.

"Is that how you address your friends?" Natural asked with a slight pout that made Melody's lip twitch slightly.

"I have no friends. I have acquaintances, is all." _And a boss._ _And a fiance. _

"How sad. Do Percy and Kayuki not count?"

"They've only known me for a few days. You can't just become friends in such a short amount of time. It's-"

Melody stopped.

_What?_

"-how do you know about...?"

"Friendship should not have to be dependent on time." Natural said softly.

Melody stared in slight exasperation. Here this boy was, first asking about a Pokemon she thought he knew she didn't have, then lectures her about the bonds with HER Pokemon-!

"Um."

Melody snapped out of her thoughts at Natural's voice.

"Percy is getting annoyed with you taking so long to heal him..."

Percy!

Without another word, Melody ran back to the daycare center.

* * *

"There you go! Percy's all healed and ready to go now!" The daycare lady said as Percy wobbled over to Melody, grin back in place. The two then walked outside back to route three."

"So this is your evolved form..." Melody took out her poke-dex and scanned Percy.

_Servine, the grass snake Pokemon. It moves along the grass as if sliding. They avoid by either slinking into thick foliage or using their speed to befuddle foes. They use masterful vine-whipping to retaliate and attack._

"Servine, huh? Not too shabby." Melody mused.

Percy's grin widened and he he then shot off into the grass, high-pitched snickering coming out of his mouth. Melody stared.

_His ego just got larger...wonderful._

Melody then ran into the tall grass, careful not to step on any Pokemon in or out of her way. Percy was jumping and attacking anything careless enough to cross his path, all the while his snickering became a full-blown cackle.

"Alright, that's enough out of you!" the raven-haired girl said, forcing her voice not to betray the irritation she was feeling and tried to return Percy to the red and white capsule.

However, a grey and black blur suddenly flew into Melody's face, knocking her backwards and causing her to drop the capsule. A soft musical trill came from said Pokemon.

Melody glanced up, massaging her face with one hand while the other picked up Percy's poke-ball. The Pokemon was a bird-Pokemon colored soft-looking white, pale pink, and dark and light grey.

Melody then pulled out Kayuki's ball, releasing the psychic type.

_Yes?_

Melody opened her mouth to say what she was going to say, but then stopped, as if changing her mind.

"Use hypnosis, will you? On that Pokemon." Melody pointed at the bird.

Kayuki then shot a purple and pink ray at the Pokemon, causing it to fall asleep and onto the ground. But just before it hit the ground, Percy's vines quickly caught ahold of said Pokemon. Melody tossed out a great-ball, a red light coming out and enveloping the Pokemon and pulling it inside. It shook once...

Twice...

Three times...

..._click._

Melody picked up the great-ball and brought out the poke-dex and scanned said ball.

_Pidove, the tiny pigeon Pokemon. Pidove follows orders as best as it can, but sometimes fails if the commands are too complicated. They are accustomed and enjoy human company and will often gather in crowded areas._

___Level: 10_

_Gender: Female_

_Ability: Super luck_

_Strong against: Bug, grass, and fighting._

_Weak against: Rock, ice, and electricity._

_Immune against: Ground and ghost._

_Attacks: Gust, growl, and leer._

Melody looked over the stats. High attack, yet this Pokemon seems to only know special...

Releasing the Pidove out, Melody faced the tiny pigeon-like Pokemon. Pidove glanced up and let out a soft trill, acknowledging the raven-haired girl.

"Huh. Hey, Pidove?" Melody felt Pidove's weight leave her head and fly in front of her face.

"I'm going to be naming you...Silphy. Is that, alright?"

The Pidove then began trilling excitedly and flying around Melody's head.

"Silphy it is, then. Percy, Kayuki." Melody motioned for them to come over. At that, Silphy noticed the two others and chirped cheerfully at them both.

"This is Silphy. Silphy, the Gothitelle is Kayuki, and the Servine with the over-grown ego is Percy. As for me, my name is Melody." Melody gestured to Kayuki and Percy, who aimed a small glare at Melody for the comment.

*Totally uncalled for, boss.* Percy grumbled. Kayuki didn't bother to translate.

Silphy then flew over to the two, circling around them and chirping at full speed.

Then, Silphy stopped and glanced at Melody before flying over and settling onto her head, hiding hers under her wing.

Kayuki smiled at Silphy.

_Seems we've gotten quite a lively team member here, eh?_

Percy snorted.

*More like a sugar-high team member...*

At that, Melody returned Kayuki and Percy to their poke-balls and addressed Silphy.

"We're going to begin training, alright?"

Silphy flew down onto the ground in front of Melody and chirped determinedly.

With that, Melody continued down the route, training Silphy and making her way to the next city.

* * *

_This is a city?_

Nacrene city looked little more than a collection of warehouses. Even with the Pokemon center, it was hard to believe. After healing her Pokemon, Melody walked around, surveying the buildings and people.

_Hm?_

Melody then saw a giant museum near the center of the city.

_Perhaps something interesting will be in here..._

She then walked up to it and just as Melody was about to open the door, it slammed open and a white and green blue slammed into her, knocking her to the ground with something heavy on top of her.

"Oh! We seemed to have run into each other once more!"

Melody didn't even try to stop herself as her fist slammed Natural in the face, knocking him off her.

* * *

I just got back from Duluth on vacation! It was fun as always to be down by Lake Serperior- I mean Superior.

Anyways, new team member, a Pidove. I like their line and everything, but their special attack is, well to put it gently, complete and total balls. Their attack stats should be special and their special vice-versa.

I've got 3 follows, 2 favorites, but only 1 review? REVIEW.


	9. White Stone

Ch. 9 is also here…

* * *

"Ow! What on earth was that for?" Natural exclaimed.

"Isn't that supposed to be my line?! You're the one who started this!" Melody snapped as she got back up.

Natural winced as he rubbed his face, which sported a bruise on his right cheek. Melody frown softened.

_Losing my temper and shifting blame, this isn't like me at all..._

"Natural."

Melody then held out her hand to Natural, who looked at her is surprise before taking a hold of her hand and pulling himself up.

"I apologize for slamming into you, Melody." Natural said, holding out his own hand to hers.

Melody looked at the hand, and pushed away the irritation and voice screaming at her not to step down so easily.

"I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have punched you." And she accepted the handshake.

They stayed like that for about a minute.

"So...are you here to look at the Museum's exhibit?" Natural asked.

Melody shrugged.

"I just beat the gym leader here."

Melody perked up.

"This is a gym? But this is a museum.

"It is also a gym as well. Almost all of the gyms in Unova serve as dual-buildings. For example, the gym in Stiraton city is also a cafe, and this one is as a gym and a museum." Natural explained.

"You seem to know quite a bit about this, don't you? And you say all of the gyms are like this?"

"'Almost all', I said. And it is true. I have done some research on them all before I set out on my journey."

For a moment, Melody felt a smile tug at her lips.

_He sounds almost like Leon._

"Melody? Hello?" _  
_

_Eh?_

"Uh, yes what is it?"

_Don't space out when people haven't finished talking, you fool... _Melody mentally chided herself.

"There is a new exhibit that caught my eye and I think you will find it interesting as well. Would you like to see the exhibit with me after I heal my friends?" Natural asked.

Melody blinked. Why was he asking her to see it? He had probably already seen it when he challenged the gym leader, so why would he want to see it again, just with another person?

Then she realized Natural was already gone.

Melody felt irritation rising again.

But as quickly as he disappeared, Natural appeared again, running toward the entrance of the museum.

"My friends health was getting low so I had to leave. You understand, of course." Natural said, mouth rambling on.

"...of course."

"So do you want to see the exhibit?"

"..fine."

* * *

This exhibit was impressive, Melody could honestly say. There was a Dragon-type skeleton, an assortment of foreign fossils (trying saying THAT five times fast), a bunch of strange looking bone clubs, a meteorite, and a series of tablets in strange lettering,

"Here it is." Natural guided over Melody over to said exhibit.

There were a stone in a glass case on a pillow. A sign by it said, "Light stone".

"Fascinating, is it not?" Natural asked, looking at the stone with interest. Melody was about to shrug when she actually looked at the stone.

The stone was pure white that seemed to give off a wave of heat from how the air seemed to shimmer around it, and for a split seconds, orange fire flit across it. Melody stared at the stone, trying to see the orange again, but it was gone. She didn't know why, but she could almost feel power radiating from the white stone. Natural was right, It was fascinating. Not that she would tell him that.

_...my knight..._

A voice suddenly echoed in her head, causing Melody to recoil backwards and slam into Natural.

"Melody? Are you alright?" Natural steadied the raven-haired teen and kept her from collapsing.

"Yes. I'm fine." Melody said, her voice shaking slightly.

"Well, what do you think?" Natural asked, eyes shinning with anticipation.

"It was...interesting." Melody said softly, truthfully. She didn't know why, but she felt burning in her chest.

"You know, you do not look very well. I will get you somewhere to sit." Natural said.

* * *

Melody sipped some of the pop Natural gave her, feeling the sweet fizzy drink soothe her slightly. They were outside the cafe by the museum, on the veranda.

"Are you feeling better, Melody?" Natural asked softly, concern in his eyes.

Melody nodded, not feeling like talking at the moment.

"Um... if you don't mind, I want to tell you something important." Natural said, his voice and face becoming serious. Melody set down the drink after screwing on the cap.

"I... I want to see things that nobody else can see. The truths of Pokemon inside poke-balls...and the ideals of how trainers should be. And a future where Pokemon have become perfect."

Melody said nothing, but frowned. Natural didn't notice this and he gripped her shoulders with unusual force so that they could see each other clearly. Melody was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable. She had never been this close with any one, the exception being Leon.

"Melody...do you feel the same way as I do?" Natural asked solemnly.

"Not at all."

Natural looked shocked at her answer, pulling away.

"It's useless and completely pointless to wonder about something like that. Pokemon and humans, whether trainers or not, have and always will coexist. There's nothing else to wonder abut." Melody said in a flat, definite tone.

"I see...I am disappointed in you, Melody." Melody stared in surprise at Natural's drastic change in voice and demeanor. And then, he released out three Pokemon.

"I expected more from you. Now pay attention. My friends and I...we will see if you can see the future as well!"

Melody quickly sprang back, releasing Kayuki, Percy and Silphy. With the few extra seconds, she pulled out her poke-dex and scanned Natural's Pokemon.

_Tympole__, Pidove, and Timburr. Water, flying and fighting. Easy enough._

"That...that's a poke-dex, isn't it?!" At that, Natural had crossed the space between the two and grabbed Melody's hand that was holding the poke-dex.

"What are you-?!"

"You're one of those evil trainers who capture Pokemon for the sake of collecting data! I can't believe this!"

"Let go of me! Natural, let go!"

Percy threw a whirlwind of razor sharp leaves at Tympole, almost immediately knocking it out. Kayuki shot spheres of psychic energy at Pidove, who was slammed with almost all of them, but managed to dodge the bigger ones. Silphy flapped her wings, creating a strong wind that threw Timburr across the concrete path. Then Timburr threw it's log at Silphy, making her crash down. Kayuki's eyes flitted over to Silphy for a moment and in that time, Pidove shot toward her at lightning speed and slammed into her gut, cutting Kayuki's air off. Percy then slammed into Pidove, knocking it out, an angry expression on his face. Silphy flew up, but she was greatly weakened Timburr shot toward her, ready to knock the pigeon-like Pokemon out, but Kayuki's psychic spheres slammed into it, knocking it out.

"I told you to-!" Melody finally wrenched free and put her poke-dex away. Natural still glared at her.

"What is your problem?"

"I thought you were a good person, but you're using a poke-dex and capturing Pokemon so that you can get data on them and that's all! You don't catch them to form bonds or anything! You're even worse than the trainers who hurt their Pokemon in battling!"

"I'm not capturing Pokemon for the poke-dex,I'm trying to get somewhere important. That's why I'm on this journey! And you're certainly one to talk about hurting Pokemon, since you're the one who challenged me in the first place!"

Natural looked stricken for a moment, before returning the Pokemon to their poke-balls.

"My friends and I...Right now, we aren't strong enough to save all Pokémon. Maybe I can't solve the equation that will change the world. So, I need power... Power enough to make anyone agree with me."

With that, Natural walked away to the Pokemon center, just just a few yards away, he stopped. Melody blinked and was about to say something when he began talking, most likely to himself.

"Now I know what power I need. Zekrom! The legendary Pokemon that, along with the hero, created the Unova region. It's my turn to become that hero-and you and I will be friends!"_  
_

Then, he was gone.

Melody stared at where he used to be for a while with one thought in her head.

_Just what is his deal?_

* * *

OK, so this battle scene was similar to the one Black had with N in the Black and White manga. I liked the battle, so I put in a little bit of contact, because I notice in said manga, the trainers aren't necessarily protected from any damage from the Pokemon battles, which I think is sort of cool.

Personally, I favor truth over ideals. Why? While ideals can be good, they can also be interpreted as lies sometimes. The truth may be cruel and unfair, but it's the truth. If you can't accept it, oh well.

Also, I'm reading the Code Geass fanfiction Dauntless. I'm on chapter 63 and I am loving the story so much right!

Also I apologize for screaming at you guys to review. I'll try not to get annoyed with my viewers. The fact that people are reading this is awesome and I forgot that.

Also, the dialouge of the game freak characters was taken from Bulbapedia.


	10. Pinwheel Forest

"Move, you!"

Melody looked behind her just in time to see a group of Team Plasma grunts run by her. They shoved past her, slamming her onto the concrete path.

Melody got up quickly, wincing. There were now red scratches down the sides of her arms and knees. She returned Kayuki and Percy to their poke-balls. Silphy settled on her hat.

_Not them again-_

"Out of the way, out of the way, OUT OF THE WAY!" A voice cried out.

Melody quickly sidestepped as she knew who the voice belonged nearly slammed into Melody, but instead she tripped over her feet and slammed into the ground by Melody's feet.

Bianca got up, wiping away the tears that gathered in her eyes from the impact. She then noticed Melody.

"Miss Melody! Did you see those Plasma guys?! They stole the skull of the skeleton of a dragon-type Pokemon!" Bianca exclaimed breathlessly, grabbing Melody's hands.

Melody blinked before wrenching her hands from Bianca's grasp.

_Just what were Team Plasma doing with part of an exhibit? You'd think they would focus more on their goal, "liberating" Pokemon._

"And you're going to help you get the skull back, yes?"

"Actually, no." Melody stared up in surprise.

"I'm...I'm really weak, compared to Cheren and Leon. So, I'm staying to guard the Museum. But Miss Lenora and Mr. Burgh are going to get the skull back!" Bianca said assuredly.

Melody said nothing.

_Bianca is surprisingly honest about herself. _

"Hey Bianca, why aren't you back at the museum? You said you'd guard it with Cheren!"

A young man with sandy orange hair, magenta scarf, green shirt and magenta with stripes pants ran up to them. Behind him, was an older woman with dark skin, teal hair tied back with a checkered orange and cream colored headband, white shirt with bow, teal pants, and an apron swung over her shoulder. Melody said nothing but her eyes widened at the sight of the woman.

"Miss Lenora, Mr. Burgh! Sorry about that! Oh yeah! This is Miss Melody, she can help you get back the skull!" Bianca said, pushing Melody to the two people. Melody's eyes widened in surprise at this.

"Wait-!"

"Awesome! OK Miss Melody, come on!" Burgh grinned as he grabbed her arm and shot off to the outskirts of the City. "Honestly Burgh, don't run off so recklessly!" Lenora called after him.

"OK, good luck with that! This museum is gonna be totally safe!" Bianca called after them.

* * *

"OK, I'm going to the exit so that those fashion-deluded freaks don't escape! Lenora, you guard the entrance in case they try to back-track, and you Miss Melody, will trail them through the forest path,. All right team, let's go go GO!" Burgh proclaimed, pointing up to the sky before shooting off the the exit.

"...you do know that I was more or less literally shoved into this mess, and I expect some sort of recompense for this. Right?" Melody said to Lenora in a slight deadpan.

"Well, aren't you the demanding type. We'll see if we can stop them, all right dear?" Lenora smiled, patting Melody's shoulder before going to guard the entrance.

Melody felt where her shoulder was patted, warmth blossoming in her chest.

_Don't get distracted. Have to chase down Plasma and get my reward!_

Melody then broke off into a light jog with Silphy on her head, chirping determinedly. About a minute later, the two ran into Plasma grunts situated all over the path.

"You brat! When I'm through with you, you won't be able to chase us anymore!"

"I think you're fighting us because you're flat-out jealous of our uniforms!"

"That's right! I'm here to stall and if you don't step lively, we'll get away!"

_Shut up, shut up, just shut up! _Melody thought as she curb-stomped the grunts who tried to get in her way. Finally, she cornered the grunt who was carrying the skull on his back.

"Fine then! My Pokemon will KO you!" He snapped as he tossed the skull behind him and then threw out two Patrats and a Sandile. Melody then released Percy out with Silphy and the battle was over in about a minute.

"Damn it! Fine, take the stupid skull!" The grunt snarled, returning his Pokemon into their capsules and tried to throw the skull at Melody but then collapsed under it's weight. Melody, Percy and Silphy all sweat-dropped at the grunt.

"How are you holding up, fellow servant of the King?"

Melody was then pushed to the side as an old man in dark blue robes walked to the grunt. Said grunt immediately bowed down to the old man.

"Gorm of the seven sages! I'm mortified that the skull we worked so hard to get was taken from us so easily!" The grunt flung himself even lower in front of Gorm. Melody was beginning to consider just taking the skull and running off while they weren't looking.

"Worry not. We can afford to abandon the Dragon Skull. According to the results of our research, this is not the legendary Pokémon for which Team Plasma is looking. It is completely unrelated. You, trainer, however-" At that Gorm turned his attention to Melody

"-will not be allowed to disrupt our plans and get away with it. We will fix it so you never interfere with us again."

Gorm reached into the sleeve of his robe and brought out an Ultra ball. Melody felt a slight sweat break out. Percy and Silphy then maneuvered themselves in front of Melody, glaring at Gorm and ready to defend their trainer.

_Ultra balls can only be purchased by extremely powerful trainers and are only used on hard-to-catch Pokemon! Can my Pokemon stand up to what ever he has?_

Just then, Burgh plowed through the brambles and stopped at Melody's side, wheezing. A Leavanny was by his side, patting his shoulder. After a few seconds, he looked up at Gorm and the grunt and grinned.

"Oh, sweet! The bug Pokémon were getting all worked up, so here I come, and what do I spy with my little eye? This important looking guy! Are you here to help your friends?"

Then, Lenora came from the opposite path, followed by her Watchog.

"Melody! Burgh! The others didn't have anything..." Lenora turned her attention to Gorm, a frown on her face. "And who are you supposed to be? Is this guy the big boss?"

Gorm looked at the three with a calm expression before talking.

"I am one of the Seven Sages of Team Plasma. Ghetsis, another of the Seven Sages, will liberate Pokémon with words alone! The remainder of the Seven Sages have ordered their compatriots to rescue Pokémon by any means necessary! But the odds are a little against us now. To you, the Bug Pokémon user Burgh and the Normal Pokémon user Lenora, I say this: Know your enemies, know yourself, and know you need not fear the result of a hundred battles... This time, we shall retreat quietly. Even though you are Gym Leaders, we will not tolerate any further obstruction from you. In any case, we will settle this someday. I hope you are looking forward to that time as much as I..._"_

"And as for you, trainer-" Gorm directed his gaze on Melody.

" A message from our King to you: 'I not tolerate you meddling in Team Plasma's affairs. I advise you to stand down or you will regret it.'" He said before throwing down a small ball which exploded into smoke, blinding the three. After it cleared away, Gorm and the grunt were gone.

"They're a speedy bunch. What are you planning to do, Burgh? Are you going to chase them?" Lenora said to Burgh.

Burgh pursed his lips thoughtfully before replying.

"Hmm... We got back the stolen skull and if we corner them, there's no telling what they might do. I think I'll be heading back Lenora..." With that, Burgh left the two and Lenora turned her attention to Lenora.

"Melody! You're holding the Dragon Skull you worked so hard to get back, right?"

Melody nodded and Lenora then picked up the skull in one hand.

_Arceus, she's strong as always..._

"Melody, thank you so much. With a kind Trainer like you taking care of them, the Pokémon with you must be happy. And I also happen to have your 'recompense' as you so colorfully put it. Please use it carefully!" Lenora then handed Melody a yellow-green seed with a chain attacked to it.

"This is a Miracle seed! It boosts grass-type moves and I thought it would be perfect for your Servine. Now, I must take the Dragon Skull back to the museum." Lenora then turned and walked away, but before she disappeared from Melody's field of vision, she stopped and turned back.

"And Melody, be sure to visit again, all right? Your father would love to see you again." Lenora said smiling. Then she finally left.

Melody slipped the Miracle seed around his neck. Percy grinned. Melody smiled slightly.

_Why not? I'll visit them when I'm not in such a rush. And thank you for the 'recompense'..._

_Mother._

* * *

Yup, Lenora is Melody's mother. Don't ask how I decided, I just did. And that's also how Melody was able to stay in Nuvema all those years.

Anyways, I've been recently looking up Code Geass memes, the majority asking who you are, what you favorite paring is and stuff. I hope to be able to post the meme on my account soon...

Also, the dialogue of the gamefreak characters was taken from Bulbapedia.

Look forward to the next chapter!


	11. Date

_The next day..._

Melody stared. As did Kayuki, Percy and Silphy. They stood at the beginning of a magnificent bridge with two walkways: one for the walkers, joggers and bikers and below for the trucks and cars. It stretched and coiled like a snake and then shot in a perfectly straight line across part of the peninsula that lead out to the sea. At the other side, was a city with many buildings built in a circle.

_"What a bridge." _Kayuki said, sounding to her as an understatement.

"Mother said that it usually takes a good two hours to get to the other side by walking, an hour and a half for jogging/running straight all the way. If we want to reach the other side before noon, we best start walking now," Melody then returned the three Pokemon to their capsules and started walking.

There were few people on the bridge, perhaps two to three at the most, either walking back to Pinwheel forest, or just looking down at the ships passing to the harbor. Finally, after altering constantly between walking and running, Melody made it to the end of the bridge and entered-

"Castelia City." Said the electric bulletin board. Melody then sat down on the bench (not flop, never flop), and leaned back, breathing in and stretching her legs out.

"I can see your legs~"

Melody jolted up, seeing seeing Leon just come up to the entrance from the Castelia city side. Melody felt her face heat up and she immediately pulled down her jeans until they reached above the heels of her boots.

"I can still see them, Mel." Leon grinned teasingly.

"Don't you have anything better to do than embarrass me?" Melody asked, teeth clenched.

"I'm just saying is all, Mel. I didn't mean to embarrass you."

"Of course you didn't." Melody muttered, sarcasm dripping on her voice.

"No. Anyways, you just got here, right? I've already scouted the city, so how about I show you around?" Leon offered.

"Why are you offering?"

"Because it's polite and I should think that two fiances should be polite to each other, right?" Leon smiled that smile and held his hand out to Melody. Said girl felt her face heat up.

"Very well. Show me around then." Melody said, taking hold of Leon's hand.

Leon grinned and dragged her out to the city, yelling, "OK then! It's touring time!"

For the next few hours, the two walked through the city, viewing everything: streets, cafes, penthouses, art galleries (there were a ton of these), and it's gym. Leon showed the entire city to Melody, which while smaller than the raven-haired girl thought, was still extremely confusing.

"...and here's my personal favorite, the Castilia City ice-cream vendor!" Leon gestured to a tiny stand with signs depicting ice-cream cones and sundaes. The line of people was pretty long but was thinning out relatively fast.

"Hey, wait here for a second, kay?" Leon let go of Melody's hand and ran to wait in line. After about a minute, Leon came back holding two ice-cream cones and handed one to Melody. Melody accepted the cone and the two then sat in the plaza, eating the icy treat.

"Well, what do you think of the city?" Leon asked as he licked the soft serve vanilla.

"It's very confusing. Just when I thought that we were somewhere, I realized we were some place else."

"Yeah, I had a hell of a time figuring my way around here. Oh hey-"

Leon suddenly stopped and leaned over to Melody and licked a bit of cream that was on her cheek. Melody recoiled, face red as she stared at Leon in disbelief.

"Wha-what was that for?!"

"You had something on your face." Leon said, grinning.

Melody glared at him and finished her ice cream, wiping off her face with a napkin before throwing it away.

"So, how are things for you?"

So, Melody told him about seeing the Plasma commercial, teaming up with Cheren to get back that stolen Pokemon, catching Silphy (Melody took out the little bird for emphasis), seeing Natural again-

"Wait, what do you mean "again"?" Leon cut Melody off.

"I met him during that speech in Accumula town. He and I talked a little..."

* * *

"OK, this guy sounds like a complete and total nutcase! You'd better stay away from him, Mel!" Leon said after Melody told him the rest.

"You don't have to tell me that..."

"I know, just saying is all. I don't want for you to get hurt."

The two became silent, just enjoying the tranquility of the plaza. Melody felt one of Leon's arms weave around her shoulder and pull her closer to him. It was nice, the raven-haired girl realized, to be like this. She used look at different couples in slight disgust as they were constantly showing affection in public. Now she understood why they wanted to. To be around someone in front of others simply because you could was...actually very nice.

_Leon...  
_

"I really love ya Mel, you know that right?"

Melody looked up at him. Leon's eyes were clouded over as if remembering the past, which he was.

* * *

_"Class, we have a new student joining us." The teacher announced to the first-grade class. The students perked up. There weren't that many children there in Nuvema Town and it was even rarer for a new child to show up. Leon for once paid attention tot he teacher. He wondered who the new student was._

_A girl with shoulder length black hair with no accessories on her walked in and faced the class. Her ice-blue eyes surveyed the children with an almost-adult like manner._

_"My name is Melody Knights. And that's all I am going to say." She said in a monotone voice. The student's expressions were now a mix of confusion, surprise and for some, fear. Even the teacher, who was always the epitome of cheerful acceptance, looked taken-back.  
_

_"OK then, Melody! It's very nice to meet you! I think we have a free spot over...there!" The teacher then pointed next to Leon's desk. The girl, Melody picked up her books and sat by Leon without another word. As the teacher began going over the lesson, Leon couldn't help but glance over at Melody every 10-20 seconds. She was focused on the teacher and while her face was seemingly bored, her eyes were focused on the teacher._

_"All right class, please begin your assignments."_

What?

_Leon realized with a jolt that he hadn't heard a word the teacher said._

_"Um...Melody?"_

_"...yes?"_

_"Can you tell me what-"_

_"Already talking during work time, Mr. Lamperouge?" The teacher asked, suddenly behind them._

_Leon looked back down. He had already had a rocky relationship with the teacher and now she was going to chew him out right in front of the new student too._

_Melody then looked up at the teacher and in a polite but almost sarcastic tone, said, __"Already have nothing better to do than to see if a single kid out of the entire class is trying to get a little help?"_

_The teacher stared, obviously not used to being talked to like that._

_"Please refrain from talking to your teachers like that in future, young lady." The teacher said through slightly gritted teeth before walking off to her desk._

_Leon was captivated.  
_

_During recess, he, Cheren and Bianca were playing in the field._

_"So what do you guys think of Melody?" Leon asked as he kicked the soccer ball to Bianca.  
_

_"She's scary! Did you see the way she was looking at us?! I best she's a vampire or something!" Bianca exclaimed, shivering as she remembered and missed the ball.  
_

_"She's a monotonous, blank-faced child with no tact. She walked back at teacher with no shame whatsoever," Cheren said, frowning disapprovingly as he went behind Bianca and threw the ball back to Leon._

_"Huh. I think she's really neat!" Leon said, grinning.  
_

_"Why?" The two asked.  
_

_"She just stood up for me when the teacher tried to hammer on me again!"_

_"Well well, if it isn't the platinum trio." A sneering voice said._

_Cheren, Leona and Bianca looked behind them. A girl with sandy brown hair, and flanked on the left and right side of her were two older looking boys, was looking down on the three.  
_

_"What do you want now, Sally?" Leon asked with a slight growl.  
_

_"I want you three to keep your mitts off the new kid. She's a smart kid with a lot of potential so I don't want you fourth-classers to bring her to your level." Sally said with a glare.  
_

_As she was saying this, Leon noticed Melody walking past the three. He stifled a snicker. She heard everything Sally had just said!  
_

_"What's so funny, Lamp-La-" Sally tried to pronounce Leon's last name and failed. Bianca giggled and Sally then glared at the blond and grabbed one of her pig-tails.  
_

_"Who are you laughing at-"  
_

_"Stop it!" Cheren and Leon snapped, running toward the two girls but both were knocked down by one of the grunts by Sally._

_"That'll teach you. Now if you'll excuse me- Melody dear!"_

_Sally put on a sweet smile and ran to the raven-haired girl. The two boys quickly followed her. Cheren went to comfort Bianca._

_"Guys, I'll be right back!" Leon said as he trailed after them._

_Sally and the two boys were by Melody near the fence. _

_" Hello-o-o-o Melody dear! (Leon twitched at the false sweetness in her voice) I was just trying to find you! I'd like very much for you and me to be friends. We can hand out and I can introduce you to my darling Pokemon! Did you know I'm the only one in our grade who actually owns Pokemon? My dad got it for my birthday! See?" Sally __Sally pulled out a poke-ball and released an Emolga._  


_Melody said nothing, simply staring back at Sally._

_Sally's smile went down a few molars._

_"H-hey, are you all right, Melody dear?"_

_"I have one too." _

_Sally beamed, attempting to sound happy, "Is that so! May I see it?"_

_Melody nodded and took out a premier ball from her pocket._

_"Now don't be ashamed that it's not as wonderful as my Emolga, we are only children after-" Sally's rant was cut off as a _Gothitelle_ materialized by Melody's side._

_Sally and her goons mouths just dropped open. Leon's did too, he could feel it. It was one thing to have a rare Pokemon. It was another thing entirely to have an _ace-trainer_ rank Pokemon, let alone a Pokemon used by one of the _Elite Four_!_

_The other kids, even some of the sixth graders noticed the Pokemon and began to crowd around the raven-haired girl, knocking over Sally and her goons. _

_"Wow, what a Pokemon!"_

_"I've never seen a Gothitelle in person before!"_

_"I've never even seen one before!"_

_"So cool!"_

_Leon looked at Melody, seeing how stiff she was and how her eyes roamed around. Cheren and Bianca had just arrived._

_"What's going on here-" Cheren began._

_"Perfect timing you two!" Leon exclaimed as he grabbed them both and started to worm his way through the crowd. _

_They finally made it through, with Cheren snapping, "What are you-!"_

_"Here!" Leon then positioned Cheren in front of the left side and Bianca on the right and he took the position in front of Melody. They had formed a human shield around the new girl._

_"Give them some air!" Leon yelled over the hubbub._

_Melody then returned her Gothitelle to her poke-ball, cautiously looking over Leon as the other kids dispersed, disappointed that Gothitelle was gone._

_Leon breathed a sigh of relief. Cheren then grabbed his shirt collar, yelled, "What were you thinking?! We could have been squashed by all those kids!"_

_Bianca looked at Melody almost fearfully as she walked out of the barrier. _

_"Um-"_

_"Sorry for the trouble," she said politely before going off._

_"Ohh Melody dear-"_

_"Go away."_

_Sally slammed onto the ground in a face-fault and Leon stared in awe. He had never seen Sally turned down so fast. _

She's awesome!

_Later that day, as the kids were let out, Leon waited for his parents outside. It had started to rain so he brought out the umbrella his mother gave him. She had always insisted on Leon bringing it with him to school every day in case it rained. _Thanks mom._ Leon thought as he opened it up over his head. As he waited, he noticed Melody was waiting too.  
_

_She had no umbrella and made no effort to shield herself as the rain started coming down harder, soaking the girl.  
_

Poor Melody, she must be freezing!

_Leon then walked up to Melody and held his umbrella over her head. Melody looked at him, surprise on her face._

_"...why...?"  
_

_"Well, I couldn't leave you to catch a cold! That'd be mean!" Leon exclaimed._

_Melody said nothing, but looked back at Leon from the side. Water ran down her face from before, her black hair and clothing sticking to her skin, those blue eyes looking back at his brown eyes._

_"...thanks."_

_"No problem!" Leon grinned at her._

_Melody then smiled. It wasn't a very big smile like the other smiles he had seen, but it was really pretty._

Wow...

_"Do- do you wanna be friends?" Leon asked._

_"Friends?"_

_"Yeah! And I've got other friends that I could intro-in-"_

_" 'Introduce'"."_

_"Yeah that! So whaddya say?"_

_"...okay."_

* * *

"Leon? What is it?" Melody's voice shook Leon out of the flashbacks.

"Just thinking about the day we met is all." He said, smiling.

Melody smiled too.

"The teacher placed me by you and tried to chew you out. That brat Sally approached me during recess and I nearly got crushed by the other students. You held that umbrella over me and asked if we could be friends." Melody nodded.

_It's been so long, I had nearly forgotten. I used to be friends with Cheren and Bianca as well. I wonder... do either of them remember?_

They stayed like that for a while. The sun was nearly set before the two headed back to the Pokemon Center. They both checked out rooms and went up to them. Leon stretched his arms over his head.

"YAWN~ Well, I'm about done with today! G'night Mel." Leon then leaned over and placed a small peck on the raven-haired girls lips before going into his room.

"...good night."

* * *

My first filler chapter! I have no regrets...


	12. Despair

_"So you wanna be a trainer?"_

_"Uh-huh. I'll travel all over Unova and get really strong with the Pokemon I catch, no doubt about it."_

_"No matter what?"_

_"Of course."_

_"...then, be the best! Make the Pokemon proud to be at your side!"_

_"That much is obvious."_

_"Promise?"_

_"Promise."_

* * *

Tip-toeing as softly as he could, the man looked at the various poke-balls set in the lockers for the night. He grinned.

* * *

A piercing alarm shot through Melody's ears, jolting her awake. Bright red lights blinked and subdued repeatedly as the wails of the alarm went on and off.

_What's going on?!_

Melody pulled off her covers and opened her door. A person ran past her, slamming her into the wall. She looked back at the slammer from the corner of her, but only caught their back-

-with the Team Plasma logo on the back.

Melody quickly ran to where she set her Pokemon for the night and found the locker open.

_Oh no..._

Melody searched the locker, finding Percy and Kayuki's poke-balls, but...

Thin air was all she could feel as she groped for the great ball.

_They took Silphy!_

Rage and fear clawed simultaneously at Melody's stomach as she ran out after the grunt. It was still pretty dark outside, but slowly becoming lighter. There was rain coming down. The raven-haired girl ignored the cold and wet griping her through her sleeveless night-gown and concentrated on the task at hand. The grunt didn't notice Melody following him but still kept running. Melody tried to run faster and navigate the streets but eventually as the grunt turned at a corner and Melody followed him, he was gone.

Melody stared, replacing the anger with fear as she looked around wildly for the grunt.

_No no no... he can't have just vanished, he must be here somewhere-! Silphy!_

She searched all over the street, ignoring the stares of the people about as she looked frantically for the grunt. But it was no use. The grunt, along with Silphy, were gone.

Melody felt what little strength she had in her legs go and she slumped onto her knees. Silphy was just stolen, no, kidnapped, by Team Plasma-

_-and _I_ let them get away. After what they did for me, I couldn't even protect her... my first capture..._

"DAMN IT ALL!"

She slammed her fists onto the concrete before a muffling dizziness overcame the trainer and she slumped with a thud on the side-walk.

* * *

A little girl with a little girl with nut-brown skin, poofy purple hair and white dress-pants with a pink bow on the side heard the scream and ran to the source, seeing a young woman lying on the side-walk, in her night-clothes and without shoes.

"Miss! Miss!" she tried to pull the trainer up-right, but her arm strength wasn't enough, so she opted for just staying by her side.

"Iris!"

She looked up to see Burgh and a boy with brown hair and eyes run over to her.

"Melody! What's wrong with her?!" The boy exclaimed, rushing to her side and setting his coat over her thin frame.

"I heard this lady's scream and came to her side, but I didn't see how she got like this." Iris said, looking down.

"There was a theft of Pokemon at the Pokemon center a few minutes ago. Not many were taken, but it was still quite a few." Burgh said softly.

"What?!" Iris shouted.

"They took Melody's Pokemon. The receptionist told me she chased after them...that's how she got like this." Leon said, anger crossing his face.

"But that's so bad! Taking people's Pokémon is really bad! 'Cause it's really nice when people and Pokémon are together! They each have something the other doesn't, and they help each other!" Iris exclaimed, pumping her fists angrily.

Leon then gathered Melody into his arms.

"I'm taking her back to the center. Can you guys please tell me if you find out where these guys are?" Leon asked.

"Of course." Burgh nodded.

* * *

Warm. So warm, it was almost suffocating. Melody opened her eyes slowly.

She was back at the Pokemon center in her bed, a blanket covering her and a cold compress on her forehead. Leon was by her side, hand gently running through her hair.

"Here, you must still be cold." Leon then tilted a mug of coffee onto her lips. Melody accepted it mutely and drank, feeling warmth seep through her. And with it, came back the memory of that morning. She shot up, causing Leon to drop the mug and it shattered on impact, spilling the drink and staining the rug.

"I have to get her back. Right now." Melody said, her voice shriller than usual. She tried to get up, but Leon pushed her back, gripping her arms.

"No!"

Melody struggled against him, but Leon's grip was strong and she couldn't break free.

"Let go of me, Leon. Let go!" Melody's voice shook as she tried to keep it sounding it's normal calm. All at once, she felt weak and dizzy and fell back on the bed. She then sat up shakily and tried to get out of bed but Leon's arms wrapped around her, holding her to him. He turned her around so he could look Melody in the eye.

"Melody, it's been nearly a whole day since you raced out of here in a thin night-gown out into a rain storm and ran for nearly a mile in your bare feet. You have a fever of 102.4 Fahrenheit. I know you want to help Silphy, but you're in no condition to be going anywhere!"

Melody shook her head, fists pounding weakly on his chest.

"No. No."

"Please calm down." A voice said.

Melody looked behin to see Burgh walk in with Iris, who walked up to Melody.

"My name's Iris, miss! I found you passed out and then these guys helped you get back here. I understand that your Pokemon was stolen by those Team Plasma jerks." Iris said, setting a hand on Melody's shoulder.

"Well, we found their hideout! So don't worry, we'll get back your Pokemon, OK? " Iris smiled at her.

Melody said nothing. Even though her words calmed her down somewhat, it did nothing against the anger that began clawing at her.

"Let me come with you. Please."

"Didn't you hear me, Mel?! You have a-!"

"Leon, they need to see just what they caused. I'm like this because I was trying to get back my Pokemon. They need to see the lengths a trainer who cares about their Pokemon are willing to go through." Melody said, very serious.

"Mel..."

Burgh looked thoughtful before replying, "You're going to have to stay here until you make a full recovery after this, understand?" Burgh said.

Melody nodded. She stood up with the blanket wrapped around her.

"Wait," Leon said before taking his coat (that had been dry cleaned a while before) and put it on her shoulders under the blanket.

"Can't have you getting more sick."

Melody smiled slightly at this. "Thank you."

"I'm gonna be Melody's bodyguard, so no one tries anything with her!" Iris declared, giving Melody a thumbs up.

Leon nodded, a smile coming on his lips. "I bet she feels safer already."

_About as safe as a sick eighteen-year old feels being guarded by a ten-year old._

* * *

"No one's here! Not a soul! No Team Plasma members or sages!" The grunt exclaimed at the three.

"Shut up and let us by, or you'll regret it." Melody said in an even tone, but Iris and Burgh could feel it, the rage-intense aura radiating from Melody.

The grunts could to as fear flashed over their eyes. They pulled out the capsules and brought out their Pokemon. Burgh sent out a Dwebble, Iris an Fraxure, and Percy came out all on his own, fury etched on his face.

*How dare you take one of my team-mates?!*

The Plasma Pokemon were taken down in little time, recalled by the fear-stricken grunts.

"This is bad...badbadbadbadbad for Team Plasma!"

"Like Plasbad?"

"Yeah! It's in our best interest to inform Sage Bronius!" With that, the three retreated into the penthouse behind them.

"All right, the stolen Pokemon are inside! Let's go!"

"OK! This time, I'll join the fight! Come on, Melody, you too!"

Burgh then ran in, with Iris following close behind. Melody tried to run as well, but dizziness took over her and she swayed for a moment but vines wrapped around her waist steadying. Percy looked up at her, pity and sadness in his eyes.

"Thank you, Percival." Melody said softly as she walked in after the two trainers with Percy by her side.

There were the three grunts and in front of them were two old men, one which Melody recognized as the man called Ghetsis and another which she assumed was Bronius.

Burgh and Iris were facing the people and Melody walked to their side. Burgh was eyeing Team Plasma with a frown and Iris was out-right glaring at them.

"So, what would you say is the guiding principle of Team Plasma, anyway? "Take what you want from people"? Burgh asked, disgust flaring briefly in his eyes and tone.

Bronius then said in a low voice to Ghetsis, "I thought it would be humorous to prepare a hideout right in front of a Pokémon Gym, but we were detected more quickly than I imagined."

They were treating this like-! She couldn't even think of words to describe her feelings.

"Indeed... No matter. We already have an exceptional base of operations. Is everyone familiar with the legend of the founding of the Unova region?"

"I am! It's about the black dragon, Zekrom? But what does that have to do with anything?" Iris said, confused.

Ghetsis then turned to the side, eyes clouded over as if reminiscing.

"The truth is this... The black dragon appeared before a hero who sought the ideal way to knit together a world full of warring people. This black Dragon-type Pokémon shared its knowledge-and bared its fangs at those who stood against it. Together, the power of this Pokémon and the hero brought unity to the hearts of everyone in the land, and that is how Unova was created."

_What is this leading up to?_

"We shall bring back the hero and that Pokémon to Unova once again! If we can win people's hearts and minds, we can easily create the world that I-no, that Team Plasma-desires!" Ghetsis declared loudly, sweeping his hand to the right.

Melody then stepped forward until she was in front of Ghetsis.

What a sight they must have been, a girl dressed only in a thin night-gown with a blanket and boy's jacket wrapped around her shoulders with bare feet, looking back at an old man in strange yet dressy robes.

_Getting angry won't do anything. If he want a battle words, it's what he'll get._

"I've learned this much from what people have said and done: In Unova, as well as in Sinnoh, Hoenn, Johto and Kanto, we have a lot of different kinds of people. Everyone's ways of thinking and lifestyles are very different. Anyone can see there's something about what you're saying I don't quite understand."

Ghetsis raised an eyebrow. "What is that, child?"

"One thing we all seem to have in common (_I can't believe I'm saying this,_she thought) is that we all care a lot about Pokémon. I think that some of your people honestly think this is what's best. Remember your speech at Accumula Town? I already knew I could count on my Pokemon, and that shabby and lie-infested speech of yours proved me right. Because if Pokemon knew they were being mistreated by humans, they wouldn't take it lying down, that much I know. They have always been there to help us and always will. And I already promised someone-"

At that moment, an image of a little boy with long white hair with a Zorua flashed in Melody's mind-

"-that should I become a trainer, I would make the Pokemon I catch or get proud to be at my side. What you all are trying to accomplish is only going to strengthen the resolve of the trainers and Pokemon who want to stay by each other's side."

Ghetsis looked surprised for a brief moment, red and grey looking back at ice-blue. Then, he laughed.

"Myah-ha-ha-ha! You are quite hard to figure out-a little more intelligent than I'd expected. I am fond of intelligent people, you see. You'll enjoy hearing about this... From every corner of the world, I have gathered knowledgeable people for our king's benefit. You could call them the Seven Sages. Very well! We will submit to your opinion and be on our way."

He snapped his fingers at the grunt on the far right.

"Return the Pokemon!"

The grunt flinched, then he gave a sack holding the poke-balls to Burgh. Melody looked at the grunt, realizing it was the man named Selim. He was thinner than when she last saw him and he seemed...really scared for some reason.

_ They'll be time to analyze this later. Right now..._

Melody felt a relieved smile on her lips.

_Silphy..._

Ghetsis noticed this and a smile was on his face as well.

"The friendship between Pokémon and people can be very touching. But, in order to liberate Pokémon from foolish people, we will revive the legend of Unova-and win the hearts and minds of everyone. Farewell..."

With that, one of the grunts threw down a smoke bomb, filling the room with smoke. When it cleared, they were gone. Iris then shot over to Burgh and grabbed his collar with difficulty.

"What are you doing? Why are you letting them get away?!"

"We got back the stolen Pokemon, so there's not much need to go after them." Burgh said.

"I don't mind at the moment. I'm just glad we got the Pokemon back." Melody said.

"Speaking of which, which one of these is yours?" Iris then dumped out the poke-balls out before Burgh could protest.

Melody scanned over the capsules. The majority were regular, with some premier and a few luxury. But there was no great ball.

"It's not here..."

"Huh?"

"Silphy's poke-ball. It's not here."

"Arrggh! Those rotten-! They kept one! And now we can' find them either!" Iris yelled angrily.

"Tch. We'll have to find them fast, they might have already left the city!" Burgh said, biting his thumb hard enough to draw blood.

"Don't worry! I'll keep being your bodyguard!" Iris, said, trying cheer up Melody.

Melody nodded mutely as she got up and followed Iris out.

"Miss, it's going to be okay, I promise." Iris said with a soft smile and she lead the way back to the center, with Melody trailing behind.

_No... no it won't..._

Melody clenched her teeth together, struggling to hold back the tears of disappointment pooling in her eyes.

* * *

Cheren gritted his teeth as he shielded his eyes from the sandstorm of Route Four. As he continued on with his Servine at his side, he saw someone up ahead of him.

_Team Plasma!_

Without hesitating, he sicced Servine onto the grunt, defeating the Pokemon in mere seconds.

"You haven't seen the last of Team Plasma!" the grunt yelled as she ran away.

"Hmph. How bother-" Cheren stopped as he noticed what the grunt dropped.

He picked up the object and brushed away the sand, revealing the fragments of a shattered great-ball.

Cheren then heard a soft trilling and turned to the source. A Pidove was stuck in the sand, one of it's wings bent at a wrong angle. The boy approached it carefully, arms held out, palms shown.

"It'a all right, I'm not going to hurt you..."

* * *

Well, I guess it's a safe bet that none of you saw this coming, right? So instead of Bianca, it's Melody who's the victim. I notice that the main character goes after Team Plasma yet they don't know what they're preventing. So I gave the main character, Melody, a taste of the world Team Plasma would make if they succeeded.

Also, when I was writing the part where Melody shouted, I originally was going to give her more of an outburst. But then I realized that this didn't fit Melody's character at all. She's the kind of person who keeps her cool, so this level of out-burst, even though others might say I'm being cold, would be unacceptable at this level since she hasn't traveled very far in Unova. Later in the story she might have this, but not yet.

Dialogue from the respective characters from Bulbapedia.


	13. Exposition: Leon, Cheren, and Bianca

This chapter is simply some long overdue exposition for Leon, Cheren and Bianca. Enjoy.

* * *

Leon groaned as his hand switched off the alarm clock. A few seconds later,he felt Tamaki shake him harder, snapping in his ear.

"OK I'm up, buddy! Sheesh..." Leon grinned at the crocodile-like Pokemon, rubbing his head.

Tamaki snickered and jumped backwards as Leon lifted himself out of bed. Leon then retired to the bathroom, taking a shower, doing hygiene and re-emerged about ten minutes later, completely clean. Then he pulled off his pajamas and started dressing himself.

"Hey Tamaki, this looks OK, right?" Leon asked.

Tamaki looked at his trainer. Leon was wearing a red and white cap with a black poke-ball design, a blue and dark blue coat with white trim, grey jeans, red sneakers with black supports and a grey and blue jacket.

_What the heck's he askin' me for? Like I know anything about human fashion..._

Tamaki thought, then shrugged. Leon sweat-dropped at the Krokorok.

"Eh... thanks anyways, buddy. Oh hey! I still haven't told dad yet!" Leon then raced downstairs.

Leon's father, Chris Lamperouge, was already awake and eating his breakfast. Nearly forty years of age, Chris had pale brown hair, hazel eyes and a decent beard over his lower face. Leon stopped by the table and quickly pored himself some cereal.

"Mornin' pop." Leon said as he began wolfing down his breakfast.

"Morning Lee. Well, you're certainly packing it away this morning. What's the rush?" Chris asked smiling at his son.

"Rmeber he affe ick-"

"Whoa, eat or talk son. If you do both, then you WILL choke." Chris enunciated the "will".

Leon swallowed down the cereal he was eating before continuing.

"Remember the raffle ticket I won? I'm going to collect my prize!" Leon finished, wiping away the specks of cereal and milk on his face.

"Oh right. The prize is a poke-dex..." Chris looked thoughtful at that. "I remember when Oak invented those gadgets. Things became a lot more interesting around the world because of those things. And you're getting one?"

"Yeah! I can't wait! I've always wanted to go out and explore the world and now I can, thanks to the poke-dex!" Leon grinned happily as he set his dishes in the sink.

"That so..."

Leon stopped, guilt flashing on his face as he glance over the memorial tablet. A picture of a young woman with long pink hair, chocolate brown eyes and a kind smile was above it.

"Dad...will you be all right on your own here?" Leon asked softly.

Chris blinked and looked at his son, a smile spreading on his face.

"Don't baby me, son!" He said, clapping a hand on Leon's back.

"All kids have to go out into the wide world eventually. Why, I met your mother on my travels and then we had you! So I know that you need this journey, Leon."

Leon blinked, then remembered.

"Oh right! Uh, dad?"

"Yeah?"

"What would you say if I asked Melody Knights to marry me?"

Chris stared.

"Is this rhetorical?"

"..."

"It's not, is it?"

"No, sir."

Chris gave a groan, slapping a palm over his face. Leon felt what ever confidence that his father would understand plummet.

"You really are just like me, aren't you?"

_Huh?_

Chris's hand flopped to the side, revealing a grin.

"That's exactly what I did with your mother! Right before we went out on our journeys! We promised we would marry each other after we found what we were looking for in life! This-! This is rich son!" Chris laughed aloud, clutching his side.

Leon stared, torn between being happy and totally pissed.

Cris then stopped laughing and looked Leon in the eyes, expression serious.

"Do you love Melody Knights?"

"More than anyone. I mean, besides you and mom of course. And Tamaki."

"Why?"

"I...I don't know. Ever since I first met her, I knew something different about her. I didn't know what it was. She was different from the other kids. Really mature for her age. But...she also seemed so lonely at the same time. I might have become her friend out of pity and because I thought she was cool, and maybe it was because I thought she was pretty, but then... I began to see her real self. I think I might be the only one who knows it though, besides her mom and dad of course, and Kayuki. And because of that, my feelings changed. Melody may not be a big heart, but it's a wonderful one. She is the kindest, most caring girl I've ever met, all in her own way." Leon said softly.

There was a long silence between the two until Leon broke it with a shaky chuckle.

"I guess it's not really a reason, huh?"

"It's your taste, son. If you love her, then make her the happiest in the world, OK?" Chris said, kissing his son's forehead.

"Dad..."

"Now go and get that poke-dex!" Chris grinned.

"Yes sir!" Leon saluted and then ran out the door and to the lab.

* * *

Cheren Coryn stretched out and rubbed his face to get the sleep out of his eyes. Pulling off the covers after stretching, he got out of the bed and then set the covers back on perfectly. Siegfried floated up from his sleep, looking lazily at the bespectacled young man as he gathered up the clothing he would wear for the day and stepped into the bathroom. Roughly fifteen minutes later, Cheren came out.

Siegfried looked at his trainer. Cheren had put on his glasses now, and was wearing a white shirt with a red V-pattern on the front, a blue sports jacket, extremely skinny dark blue jeans, and white and blue sneakers. Siegfried, in all his years, would never understand why his trainer chose to dress in such a way...

"This is it, you know...I'm finally going to make my dream a reality." Cheren said, a smile on his face.

Siegfried smiled back and the two walked downstairs. Sonia Coryn was setting out milk, coffee, cereal, and toast for herself, her son and husband. She had long white hair and red eyes and a thin figure. When Cheren came to the table, she gestured to the plate with food to her left. Cheren nodded and sat down. Cheren nodded to her and she nodded back. She then gestured Siegfried to his food. The Frillish nodded back to her.

After about ten minutes of silent eating, Gilbert Coryn came and sat down. He had black hair that was slowly graying, dark blue eyes, and was a little on the chubby side.

"Well, it's as silent as ever, huh? Just the way I like it." He smiled gently at his wife and son. Sonia said nothing but continued eating while Cheren nodded.

Cheren cleaned his dishes and set his back pack on and faced his mom and dad and began signing to his parents.

_"Mom, dad, I'm off."_

Sonia beamed and signed back.

_"We're so proud of you, Cheren. And we always will be. So please never forget that. OK? Your father and I both know that you'll find what you're looking for on this journey and become a wonderful adult."_

Cheren smiled at his mother, then kissed her forehead and she returned the gesture. Gilbert smiled and patting Cheren on the shoulder.

"Have a great time and be safe. When you're out experiancing new things and meeting new people, it makes us both happy for you." He said.

Cheren nodded back.

_Thank you both so much. Your support means everything to me._

He waved good-bye one more time before stepping out and walking to the lab.

_But...I don't just want you two to be proud of me...I want to be proud of myself. And to do that, I need to become the best. The champion. No matter what. No matter who stands in my way._

At that, Melody's face flashed before Cheren's eyes and he clenched his fist.

He had always been better than her. He got higher grades in everything (except gym) and he was clearly the superior trainer. But, there was something very unsettling about her. She may not had as good an academic record as he did, but it wasn't because she wasn't as smart as he was.

She just wasn't trying, because she couldn't be bothered. Already, she was seeing beyond school, further than he was and simply wasn't applying herself. And her skills at battling were,in a word, terrifying.

But that didn't matter. Not to Cheren.

_Not even _she_ will able to stand in my way of becoming the champion._

* * *

Bianca yawned loudly, stretching her limbs out. She jumped out of bed, not bothering to make it. She undid her pajamas, revealing a white dress, orange vest and tights and white shoes. She set on her green barrette and grabbed her bag. She had already done her cleaning a few hours before, so she was good to go.

_OK, let's do this!_

Bianca threw down a rope ladder down the side of her window and forced herself to climb down slowly. After a few minutes, she reached the bottom. Nest minute, she sprinted off-

- right into her father. Johnson Cabernet was a very short man with an even shorter temper, with brown curly hair and green eyes.

"and where do you think you're going, young lady?" He asked, glare piercing into his daughter's eyes. Bianca shivered away from his glare.

"And what do YOU think you're doing, dear?" Bianca's mother, Anne Maria Cabernet came out. She had blonde hair and blue eyes and frown on her face she glared at the smaller man. Johnson flinched under his wife's glare but kept his gaze steady.

"My daughter was trying to sneak away and I was just trying to-"

"John, we've been over this. Bianca won the right to travel with the poke-dex." Anne Maria said.

At that, Johnson snapped.

"NO NO NO, A THOUSAND TIMES NO!" He yelled, voice echoing all across Nuvema before his wife then slammed a frying pan over his head, knocking him out.

Bianca stared, sweat-dropping. Anne Maria then turned to Bianca and smiled knowingly.

"Don't worry about your father, he's just very over-protective is all. You have a wonderful time, all right dear?"

"OK mum! and thank you! and bye!" Bianca called as she sprinted to the lab.

She had wanted to be free of her over-protective father for years. He wouldn't even let her go on field trips if they went too far away. Some of the times, Leon and Cheren had stayed behind with her. She knew why her father didn't want her to leave. He didn't think her ready. Her grades in everything except domestics were abysmal and even she knew she was naive.

Still, that wouldn't stop her.

Bianca didn't know what she wanted to do with her life, but she would find out. She remembered Melody.

_She always seems to know what she wants to do in life. I hope I can find what _I_ want to do with my life!_

* * *

So I basically had to force myself to write this chapter, since I was taking a break from Melody while she's recovering. I hope you found this to be satisfying, because next chapter is back to the story line!


	14. Entrance

*I can't believe this! I just can't!* Percy said for the up-teenth time that day.

Melody had brought out Percy and Kayuki out to Route Four to train and possibly catch new Pokemon. It had been a whole week before she was able to stand up.

_"We can't just have two or three Pokemon on our team. It's good to have others who can cover the weaknesses you two have."_ Melody had said.

*I can get that, but she just brushed off what happened to Silphy so fast! And now she's looking for a replacement! Doesn't boss think we can get her back?!*

_"We have no idea where those Plasma people released Silphy and we don't even know if they did even that. So, finding her would be literally finding a blade of grass in a haystack. We need to get stronger so that doesn't happen again. And we do need more comrades,"_ Kayuki replied back, as she knocked out a Sandile.

Melody said nothing, ignoring their talking. Jaw clenched and eyes set in a frown as she ordered her Pokemon to attack Pokemon after Pokemon. Not a single one they came across caught her eye. In fact, many of them were used by the Plasma grunts, which made her angrier.

They soon came across a construction site. The workers were taking a lunch break and some were battling. Some challenged Melody, and she accepted, curb-stomping their Timburrs, Sandiles and Scraggys.

*I'm not the only noticing this, right?* Percy said to Kayuki.

_"Melody is becoming more agitated when battling. She doesn't even seem to think, she just dishes out attacks."_

*It's pretty new for boss to fight like that, you're right about that much...I'm not complaining though, I like fighting like this!* Percy grinned as he knocked out a Scraggy.

"Return you two." Melody then brought back the two into their poke-balls.

She had made to the end of the route and took shelter in the route-stop. As she entered, Melody caught sight of a familiar face-

"He-e-e-e-y-y-y-y! Melody!" Prof. Juniper waved to her. Melody stared, sweat-dropping at the woman. Prof. Juniper didn't even give her a chance to say hello back as the older woman then grabbed her hand and shook it up and down.

"Hello, Melody!" Juniper said again. It was at that that Melody noticed Cheren was there as well.

"Ice-doll." He said, nodding his head at her.

"Cheren." she repeated the motion.

"Any-hoo, Elesa called and was asking me all about Electric-type Pokémon, and I thought about you guys. That's why I wanted to see you. Ta-da! Freebies for you! Here, Cheren! You, too, Melody!"

With that, Prof. Juniper gave Cheren and Melody each some-

"Ultra balls! How did you afford these?" Cheren exclaimed as he examined the black and yellow stripped capsules with awe. Melody said nothing, quickly putting them in her bag.

"Research grants, of course! Now if you see a Pokémon that you want to have join you, be sure to use a good type of Poké Ball. Because this could be the first and last time you see that Pokémon!"

Prof. Juniper's voice and eyes softened as she looked at the two.

"I know it might seem strange for me to say this, since I'm the one who asked you to complete the Pokédex, but please, remember to enjoy your journey! Of course, I'm not saying you can just neglect the Pokédex. But you know that! Now, if you'll please excuse me, I have to go meet Bianca."

With that, Prof. Juniper left. The two raven-haired trainers stayed there for a few moments in silence.

"I'm going to the Pokemon center to heal my Pokemon. I trust that is your plan as well?"

She nodded without another word.

The two then entered the city. Nimbasa, to put it light terms, was dazzling. Lights EVERYWHERE. Houses, penthouses, a dome labeled "Pokemon Musical" and an amusement park, all were shinning brightly even during the mid-day.

"Ow." Melody and Cheren winced as the light hurt their eyes.

"It's so bright. No wonder the celebrities like it here. In this city, EVERYTHING shines brightly." Cheren said as he made his way to the Pokemon center.

Melody glanced down at the two poke-balls before releasing Kayuki and Percy. Both were in decent shape, but looked very tired.

_"What is it?"_ Kayuki asked tiredly.

"I'll get you both healed up at the center, but after that... I'd like to be alone. There's something I need to think about. You two can rest up and take a break for the rest of the day. does that sound all right to you both?"

Percy and Kayuki blinked.

*Who are you and what have you done with our boss?!* Percy hissed out, swishing his tail in a threatening manner.

_"Calm down, Percival. That's fine with us both. So we'll meet up at the center at the end of the day?"_

Melody nodded.

* * *

*What gives, Kayuki?! Why did you agree with her so fast?! Boss never goes easy on us!* Percy asked as he and Kayuki were off wandering through the forests on the out-skirts of Nimbasa city.

_"Don' tell me you're complaining about that?" _Kayuki raised an eyebrow at him. Percy looked shocked before shaking his head. *Hell no! That shows she's an awesome trainer! I hate taking it easy, and so does she!*

_"Then you obviously didn't see it." _Kayuki sighed

*See what?*

_"I'm not surprised. You haven't been with Melody long enough."_

*What are you talking about?!* Percy yelled, flailing his short arms.

Kayuki looked away, sadness in her eyes.

_"Melody is still thinking about Silphy. It devastated her. From what I heard from Leon's Pokemon and the humans called Burgh and Iris, Melody had run out after him, in only her night gown in freezing rain for well over a mile before finally losing the one who took Silphy."_

*I thought it was just 'cause she was sick...*

_"That was it too."_

*Wait wait wait! How can you know that?! Boss has always been her normal calm and stoic self!* Percy asked.

_"Melody keeps many things to herself but I know her well enough when she's truly sad. It was in her eyes. The anguish and disappointment that she feels for losing Silphy."_

Percy said nothing, but he felt very uncomfortable at that. The Servine recalled when Melody had stumbled outside the penthouse, that one moment of weakness. She had pushed herself so hard before and when she just got back on her feet without another word about Silphy, he had assumed she had gotten over it.

*Well...she doesn't have to keep it to herself!*

_"Melody is just that kind of person."_

*U-um...*

Percy and Kayuki heard a voice behind them and whirled around. A tiny Pokemon that looked similar to a budding plant came toward them.

_Who are you little one?_ Kayuki asked gently.

*Petilil...* Petilil looked down, flustered.

*I heard you two talking about somebody...I...well...I always wanted a trainer...but...*

Percy glanced back at Kayuki, as did she glance at him.

*One second, kid.*

They both then huddled together to talk.

*Do you think boss would object to a new member?*

_"'We need more comrades', those were her words..."_

*Well then, there's nothing left to think about, is there?*

_"Right. Little one."_

*Y-yes?*

_"We'll show you to our trainer. If she says yes, you will be able to travel with us."_

Petili's eyes lit up and it nodded happily.

*Thank you!*

* * *

...


	15. Rescue

Melody walked through the festival on route 5. The people and Pokemon alike were so happy looking, it made her mood sink even further. But after a while of looking at the festivities, the pent-up negative emotions she had were slowly ebbing away.

_ I never liked getting upset because I would lose my cool and end up looking ridiculous._

"Hey there, trainer! Care to sample some of my pastries? They're at half-price for a limited time!" a baker called to Melody.

_Why not? I am a little hungry._

Melody sat down on a bench, fidgeting with the pastry she had bought. After a few minutes, she began nibbling at the corner. Melody looked at the people and Pokemon playing all around the route. Smiling, laughing... they didn't know what it was like to lose their trainer or Pokemon... It was a naive thought, but she couldn't help it.

_I hope they never know what it's like to lose their beloved Pokemon, no, their beloved friends, or partners, or comrades. _

"Hello there. Now what's a lovely young woman such as yourself doing all alone here?" A voice snapped her out of my thoughts and she looked up.

An oldish-looking man with spiky red and orange hair, tan skin, and the strangest outfit was leaning on a tree near the bench, a belt with six pokeballs draped over his shoulder.

Melody said nothing but returned his gaze. She just wasn't in the mood to be angry anymore. It was too much effort. He smiled slightly before sitting by her.

"You seem sad. Care to tell me why?" he asked gently.

Melody didn't know why, she really didn't, but something about this man made her trust him. Was it because of his eyes? Violet eyes, shining with years and years of journeying and experience.

...and sadness. Empathy, it was there too. Before she realized, Melody had begun telling him of Silphy and how she was taken and released by Team Plasma.

"I see... how awful. I'm very sorry for your loss. Pokemon and humans coexist side by side, no one should disrupt that, and no one should have to experience that, be they human or Pokemon," the man said gently, suddenly patting her on the head. His eyes were filled with pity now.

Melody never liked pity. Pity meant you felt sorry for someone, when you couldn't possibly understand how they felt.

"I don't need your pity. You don't know how I feel," she said, turning away. The man sighed.

"No, you're right. I don't know what it's like having my Pokemon stolen from me, but I do know what it's like having my Pokemon taken away from me."

_What did that even mean? He just..._

"Oh no!"

A crowd of people were gathered around the red bridge at the end of the route. The old man ran over to them. Melody's curiosity got the better of her and followed. She managed to get to the front after pushing through.

Underneath the bridge on the shoreline was a Pokemon that looked like a blue duckling, and it was tangled in a net.

_Why is no one helping? _

Melody looked down at the bridge's supports. They were all triangles of some sort that interlocked with each other. It was almost like a ladder.

_...could I? Was it possible...?_

She approached the bridge and then grabbed the support nearest to her and swung down. Collective gasps rang out. Melody climbed down slowly, making sure to watch her step. One wrong move and she would be sent plummeting down either into the water or onto the rocks.

_I'd prefer the water, at least I wouldn't get a broken bone..._

Melody set her foot down on the next support, but then for some reason, her foot moved in the completely wrong direction. The other foot slipped as well and Melody was left hanging on one of the supports, fingers slipping, and unfortunately, not over the water. Cries of alarm echoed above her.

_Damn it... how did I miss that footing?! It was right there! No no... I have to do something... _

"Give me your hand! Hurry!" a familiar voice exclaimed. Melody looked up to see Natural clinging onto the beams above me, offering her his hand.

_There's no time!_

Melody's hands were quickly slipping. Natural then abandoned all caution and swung down, grabbing her wrist and pulling her up. When she got the chance, Melody marveled at how strong he was for such a scrawny guy.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Melody almost replied, but then remembered their last meeting and frowned at him.

"I thought I was one of the "evil trainers" as you so called me. Why do you care?" she asked icily.

Natural sheepishly looked away at this. He looked rightly ashamed at this point.

"Yeah, I'm really sorry about that-"

"Damn straight you are. I was beginning to think you weren't so bad. Nicely done in shattering that opinion," Melody said, cutting him off. It was childish, she knew, but she didn't care.

"...right. You're completely right about that. I wasn't thinking when I said that..." Natural agreed.

"Obviously. Oh, right."

Melody remembered their position and why she was there.

"You know, I could fly us down. I recently got a new friend." With that, Natural tossed out a poke-ball, releasing the strangest flying type she had ever seen.

"Sigilyph, could you please fly us down to that Ducklett?"

_So that's what it's called._

Sigilyph began to hum and then Natural and Melody were lifted off the beams.

_Telekinesis._

This wasn't the first time Melody had experienced this.

_ When I was little, I would practically beg Kayuki to elevate me like this for fun._

The two landed by the Ducklett, who was even more tangled than she realized.

"Poor Ducklett. How dare they... humans!" Natural growled, anger flashing in his eyes.

Melody ignored him and worked on untangling the little Pokemon. It was easier said than done, as there were knots, tangles, and false ends. Natural then knelt by her and helped out. Finally, Ducklett was free.

Ducklett shook itself off, wings stretching out. Then, it turned its gaze on them both and quacked. Understanding flickered across Natural's face.

"She said that she saw you trying to climb down to her. She says 'thank you'," Natural said to Melody.

"Okay... well, you're welcome, Ducklett," she replied, feeling a little silly.

Ducklett quacked again and then flapped upward and landed in her lap. Silphy flashed before her eyes, overlapping with the Ducklett. Ducklett began quacking at Melody again, but she had no idea what she was trying to say.

"What? What's that, Ducklett...? But-! Why? Why would she-?!"

Natural's disbelieving tone shook her out of her thoughts as she looked at him.

"What?"

"Ducklett... she wants to go with you! She wants to be your Pokemon!"

Melody looked down at Ducklett, who seemed to be smiling at her. she couldn't really tell with the beak, though.

Melody then pulled out one of of the quick balls she had gotten in Castelia and tapped Ducklett on the forehead. It opened and the red light enveloped Ducklett and sucked her in. It shook once,

twice,

thrice,

_...click._

Melody set the poke-ball in my bag, silently vowing not to let anything bad happen to the Ducklett.

"I suppose we should get out of here, right?" Natural asked.

Sigilyph lifted them back onto the bridge and the people gathering around it swarmed around the two, asking if they were both were okay. After assuring them that they were fine, they went back to what they were doing. The old man then approached Natural and Melody.

"Good to see you're both okay. Mind telling me your names? Mine's Alder," he said, grinning and offering his hand.

"Melody Knights." Melody replied.

"Natural." He looked a little disgusted.

"Well, it's nice to meet both of you. So why are you two traveling?" Alder asked suddenly.

"I'm traveling somewhere," Melody said.

"I want to help my friends so that they won't ever be hurt by evil humans ever again," Natural said in a serious voice.

Alder nodded thoughtfully. "And after you're done what you've set out to so, what will you do then?" he asked.

Melody blinked.

_ What_ would_ I do? I've been thinking only about getting to that place. It's been my main focus. but then... why was I training my Pokemon then? I only wanted to go to that place, so why...?_

Natural said nothing either, but one look at his eyes showed her he was conflicted as well.

"Well, I'm not trying to confuse either of you. Having a goal is a good thing and I hope you both achieve them. But also, I'd like you to think about what you want to do afterwards," Alder said before leaving the route.

There was a long silence between us before Natural turned to her.

"I don't suppose you'd tell me where you're trying to go?"

"And I don't suppose you'd tell me why you're so sure that Pokemon would be better off not being with humans?"

If this were a cheesy anime, their eyes would be shooting lightning at one another. But the question remained, who would end the argument?

_Me, of course._

"Forget it. We really must stop fighting like this," Natural said, before turning away.

It was all Melody could do not to get in the last word.

_That would only make me look even more childish._

"One more thing." Natural then placed a small envelope in her hands before leaving the route for good.

Melody looked down at the envelope. It was fairly small and white, but what attracted her attention was the seal keeping the envelope closed.

The Plasma logo.

Melody tore off the seal and immediately chucked it away, not even wanting to look at it more than she had to. She pulled out the letter inside and read it.

_Melody Knights,_

_ I wish to speak with you. Come to the Nimbasa Amusement park and wait by the Ferris Wheel at 8:00 PM._

_Sincerely__, N Harmonia Gropius, King of Team Plasma._

* * *

Did you get over the minor cliff-hanger?

Here, have another.

I'm sorry about taking so long, I've been busy with school and LAZY lately and I've been awake for over 12 straight hours now. I think I'm becoming a light sleeper.

Oh right, StargateNerd beta'd this for me. Thank you much!

Look forward to the next chapter


	16. Meeting

Thank you for reading Knight of Truth.

* * *

*So he basically just asked you to walk right into a trap!* Percy snapped, his arms resting on Melody's knees. The only reason she could understand him was Kayuki translating his words to her.

It was nearly 7:00 PM and they were all resting at the Pokemon center after Melody spent the last couple of hours training the newest additions to the team. It was safe to say that she was happy Kayuki and Percy brought the team from two to three, and with the one she caught, brought the members of the team to four.

Melody ignored Percy like she had been for the last ten minutes, leafing through the pokedex. A robotic voice was similar information as when she caught Silphy.

_Ducklett, the water bird Pokemon. These birds are excellent divers. When attacked, it uses its feathers to splash water, escaping under the cover of the spray._

_Level: 20._

_Gender: Female._

_Ability: Big pecks._

_Strong against: Grass, bug, fire, fighting, ground and rock._

_Weak against: Electric, and rock._

_Immune against: Ground._

_Attacks: Wing attack, water pulse, aerial ace, and bubblebeam._

_Nickname: Nuriko._

_Petilil, the bulb Pokemon. The leaves on its head are extremely bitter, and when eaten is known to to refresh an entire body. Since they prefer moist, nutrient-rich soil, the areas where Petilil live are known to be good for growing plants._

_Level: 19._

_Gender: Female._

_Ability: Own Tempo._

_Strong against: Ground, water, electric and rock._

_Weak against: Bug, flying, fire, poison and ice._

_Immune against: none._

_Attacks: Sleep powder, mega drain, synthesis, and magical leaf._

_Nickname: Shirley.  
_

Percy looked at the little Pokemon as they ate dinner. Nuriko scarfed down the factory-produced peat moss and Shirley soaked up some sugar water from a tube.

_ I hoped Boss would get more guys on the team soon. I'm outnumbered three to one now!_

Percy looked over at the other grass-type.

_Shirley's a timid little thing and we're both the same type, according to that tree lady._

He looked at Nuriko next.

_She's over-confident and a little brat_

In the few seconds those two looked at each other when Melody introduced the all, he knew he wouldn't like her very much.

Nuriko was, in a way, a replacement. For Silphy. He couldn't even consider her a new member, not when the sadness of losing Silphy (though not as sharp) was still there.

The grass-type's thoughts were cut off as Melody stood up and cleared her throat so that they would pay attention.

"At 8:00 PM tonight, I'll be meeting someone at the Nimbasa amusement park. I need you all to be ready in case it escalates into a fight." Melody said.

Kayuki nodded solemnly, Shirley bounced upwards looking determined but scared, and Nuriko smirked confidently. Percy grinned slightly before Melody returned us to the poke-balls.

_It may be a little cramped, but hey, least we're not walking._

"Hey!"

Percy heard some voices outside the ball. It was muffled, but he could understand them pretty clearly.

"All right gramps, we know you run the daycare center on Route 3 and so you must have bunch of Pokemon! Hand 'em over!"

"What nonsense is this?!"

"What-?"

"You're a strong trainer, right? Please help!" He pleaded.

Just then, he was released along with Nuriko. They were standing outside a huge place with weird machines and bright lights and an old man was hiding behind Melody. And two of those Plasmas were in front of us.

He didn't even wait for Melody to issue a command and he shot onto the guy, knocking him down.

*You bastard! You bastard!* he snarled again and again, slapping his face angrily with his vines again and again.

"Percy, stop. Don't waste your time with _these people,"_ Melody said with undisguised disgust.

Percy aimed one more glare at the grunt before getting off.

_You've no idea how lucky you are._

The grunt got up, his face covered in bruises.

Ha. Ha. Ha

The other one then sent out a Watchog and a Trubbish.

"Percy, attack the Watchog. Nuriko, attack the Trubbish." Melody ordered.

*Shall we dance?* Nuriko smirked at me.

*Oh yeah.* he returned eagerly.

They might as well had not even tried. My leaf tornado finished off Watchog in seconds and Nuriko's continuous aerial attacks made it impossible for Trubbish to land a single hit. Man, if I'm not careful, this one'll steal my thunder.

The two paled before running off.

_Just like the pansy-ass cowards that they are._

Melody frowned and didn't stop as the old man gave her a weird thing with wheels that she folded up into her bag. After the old man left, Melody turned to the two, her frown softening.

"Let's go."

We both nodded. Now was not the time for fun and games. Which was kind of funny since every one around them were having fun and playing games.

Melody returned Percy and Nuriko to their respective capsules and walked the last few yards to the Ferris wheel by was no sign of the so-called king of Team Plasma.

_It isn't that surprising, considering I am am. Still..._

Melody looked around. The place was practically deserted.

_It doesn't make sense that it should be. I'd expect it to be this empty at 8:00, not now. So why-_

"Oh! It's you isn't it, Melody!" Melody looked behind, seeing Natural run up to her. He looked like he was in a very good mood, practically beaming.

"What is it?"

"I was wondering-" He cut himself off and looked away.

_Huh?_

Melody tried to catch his eye and he turned away, his face looking slightly colored.

"I was wondering if you'd like to see the park. With me."

"...why?"

"Please?"

Natural then did easily the second-best Lillipup eyes (the first being Leon's) she had ever seen at her. Melody' eye twitched slightly at this.

_Just say no, say no,_ say no-

"... fine."

_Damn it._

Natural beamed and then grabbed her wrist, pulling Melody into the bright lights and games. There were carnival games of all sorts, basket balls shooting, darts, guessing wight and height, and bottles.

"Hey look at those!" Natural exclaimed.

Melody looked at the direction he was pointing to see the strangest stuffed toys she had ever seen. One looked like the combination of a Snorlax and a Farfetch'd, and then another that looked like a teal Bidoof with a bill and more out of focused look than usual.

"Do you want one?" Natural asked suddenly.

"I-"

"Okay!"

"Okay...?"

Natural quickly paid the man and took three tennis balls. He took a moment to aim, then threw the first ball, which completely missed as it flew to the far right. Melody stifled a snort. He took the next ball and missed again, only he threw it to the far left this time. She brought my clenched hand to my mouth to stifle another snort.

Natural took the last ball, a small smirk on his face as he threw the last ball and hit the dead center of the bottles, toppling them all over. Melody's eyes widened at that.

_I didn't even see that coming._

Natural then grabbed the Snorlax-Farfetch'd abomination and handed it to her.

"Well, what did you think?" he asked, grinning happily.

"It's something, all right," Melody admitted, examining the animal.

_That's right. The last time I did something like this was with Leon._

There was a small festival in town and he bought us both kimonos to wear and we spent the night playing games and looking at the stars and he won me a Minncino Plush doll-

_Wait. Is this, in technical terms a date?_

Melody's head banged on the side of the pole holding up the tent. Natural glanced at her with an odd expression but said nothing.

_I can't believe myself, what am I even thinking! Am I really so socially awkward that I can't identify a date from hanging out?!_

From how she was viewing this, apparently so.

_Honestly, I'm turning into that one woman from that ridiculous novel mother kept berating for being easily the worst thing she had read. And that's saying quite a bit since mother was an archaeologist._

"I'm perfectly fine. Thank you for the plush doll of indeterminate species." Melody said quickly.

Natural's grin spread.

"You're welcome! I had a great time too!" he said as he then pulled her into an unexpected hug, then let go of her.

_Was I just contradicted?_

Melody checked my Xtranciever for the time. Five to eight.

_Crap._

"Good-bye."

she said hurriedly to Natural, then put the plush doll in her bag and broke into a run. By the time she reached the Ferris wheel, it was exactly 8:00 PM.

And the place was still deserted.

"What are you doing over here?" Natural asked, coming up from behind Melody again.

"Uh-"

"I know! We can take the Ferris Wheel ride now!" Natural suggested brightly.

He grabbed her wrist and practically dragged her onto the ride.

"No, Natural-! I need to wait for-!" But the ride had already started going round and round.

Wonderful.

Natural, at least, looked like he was having a great time, as he looked out the window, eyes bright with fascination not at the view, but the structure of the Ferris wheel as it turned.

"I love Ferris wheels, you know. The circular motion, the mechanics. They're like collections of elegant formulas."

"If you say so."

"Right then. Melody, we need to talk." Natural then faced her, his expression extremely serious. Melody sat up straighter.

"All right."

Natural took in a slight breathe before speaking.

* * *

Is Natural going to spill the beans? It's my story, so I get to decide!

Anyways, I give internet cookies to those who saw the references in my chapter.

The novel in question is _50 shades of Grey _and is a book I don't plan on reading. StargateNerd read a few sentences every once in a while to me and I always cut her off because the writing was that bad.

Speaking of which, StargateNerd is beta'ing my chapters. Thank you much, sister.


	17. Talk

What will Natural tell Melody? Read and find out, dear readers.

* * *

He was nervous. Sweat sliding down his face, eyes darting to the side and fingers fidgeting with that strange necklace he always wore.

"Natural, I don't mean- Well, I do mean to rush you. Apparently, I have to meet 'royalty' about right now and I'd rather not be late. It's not about making a good impression, I just want some answers I'll probably only get if I talk to them," Melody said, refusing to let her impatience or slight desperation show.

A ringing then came from, surprisingly, Natural's necklass He brought the orb with the two rings around it to his his lips.

"Yes?"

She heard a faint voice coming from it and surprise flashed across his eyes before he looked at me.

"Here. It's for you." Natural then handed her the jewelry. Melody took it into her hands, giving him a questionable look. He then pointed to his mouth. Melody sweat-dropped and brought it a few inches away from her lips, feeling very silly.

"Hello?"

"I see you still persist in defying me, Melody Knights."

/Melody nearly dropped the object in surprise. The voice belonged to none other than the king of Team Plasma, N. Melody bit back a retort, keeping her composure intact.

Didn't mean she wouldn't berate the crap out of him.

"First of all 'your highness', who's defying anybody? I curb-stomped your grunts because they were stealing Pokemon and harassing people. Even someone with the vaguest sense of right and wrong would do something to stop people like that."

"And anybody with the vaguest sense of right and wrong would do whatever in in their power to save the oppressed, no matter what people thought or how they felt."

"You were the one who made that Selim person take those Pokemon, along with Silphy." Melody said. She wouldn't bother asking, because she knew it was true.

"I told you if you were to interfere with my plans, I would make you regret it. Now you've lost one of your slaves as a result."

Melody nearly crushed the jewelry in her hand.

_ How dare he! How dare he say that! How dare he make judgments of the trainers and Pokemon who loved each other and try to tear them apart!_

"Well, now I have two more Pokemon by my side. And in the end, your antics are just going to fuel the fire of the trainers who see past the crap you've spouted." Melody said in a low tone.

"And the trainers whose fire diminishes because they recognize the truth Team Plasma has brought to light?" N asked coolly.

"While I admit that Team Plasma brought up some points, you over-looked some very important things," she said, knowing that the battle was about to truly begin.

"Oh?"

"You underestimate Pokemon for one. If they were being used or pushed around or abused, they would not just stand by and let themselves be exploited like that. Pokemon are not that helpless. And for another thing, while you claim to be waning to liberate Pokemon, you're doing anything but. You kidnap trainer's Pokemon, hurt wild Pokemon and then preach how you're doing the right thing. I don't know how you think you're doing the right thing, but I do know this: I will never agree with people like you, who are willing to use any excuse necessary to sugar-coat your crimes."

There was a long silence on the phone.

_Did he hang up?_

"Ghetsis was right, you are much more intelligent than I expected. You see the situations from a learned one's point of view. Tell me, what do you plan to do? Tell others that Team Plasma is wrong and that they should keep using Pokemon?" N said, tone becoming mocking at the question.

_No more beating the bush._

"To be honest, I'd much rather kick all your asses instead of waiting around to see what your all doing, but there are things I have to do. That's all I have to say to you, 'your highness'," Melody put a mocking tone on the last word.

He chuckled on the other end. The way he laughed sounded very familiar to her, though.

"We'll meet face-to-face soon. I hope you look forward to it as much as I am."

_Wait, what?!_

"Hold on-"

But the voice was gone.

Melody stared at the necklass, not sure of how to respond.

"Um..." she looked up to see Natural figiting.

"How did you get this?" Melody asked, cutting him off.

Natural looked a little freaked before calming down and replying.

"Some people in a coat stopped me back around Nimbasa city and gave it to me. They told me to lead you to the Ferris wheel and then give this to you when they called." Natural said softly.

Melody said nothing, not sure of how to respond.

_So from what he said, some Plasma scum knew he knew me, cornered him and forced Natural to do this. Well well, another reason to beat them into a pulp next time I see them._

Just then,the Ferris wheel stopped. They were back on ground-level. He and her got up and stepped out of the cart.

_I'll admit, he managed to put himself in a better light, but I still don't trust him all that much. Even if he did get that plush doll of indeterminate species for me for no reason._

"So what are you going to do now? From what little I heard, it sounded like he was issuing you a challenge," Natural said softly, putting his hands in his pocket.

"I have no time for these games. I have a place to be and that's it."

"I see..."

"Do you agree with them?"

Natural looked up, eyes flashing with an unknown emotion.

"Do you agree with Team Plasma's ideals? Do you think that Pokemon would be better off without humans by their side?" she asked again.

The silence returned for a few minutes before he spoke again.

"I don't agree with their methods of hurting wild Pokemon or harassing people, but they are doing a good thing, taking Pokemon away from the people who DO use them, who DO abuse them."

Natural said, determination burning in his eyes as he turned to face her

"Battle me. Now."

Melody was taken back by the intensity in his eyes. It was almost like he was a different person.

He brought out a Sandile onto the grass and she sent out Shirley. It only took one magical leaf to knock it out. Natural grimaced but took back Sandile then sent out Darumaka.

"Fire punch quickly!" Natural ordered.

Darumaka shot forward with more speed than Melody expected, it's flaming fist slamming into Shirley. She let out a pained squeak as she was thrown backwards against her legs. Melody bit back a retort as she picked her up in her arms. She was shuddering and her eyes were glazed over with pain. I gritted my teeth, willing myself not to explode at him.

_I was too slow to bring Shirley back, so it was my fault she got hurt, simple as that._

Melody brought out Nuriko next. She looked at her trainer as she held Shirley and anger flashed in her tiny eyes as she spewed countless bubbles at Darumaka, knocking it out as well. Natural brought it back and then released a Scraggy. Nuriko made quick work of it, slashing down with aerial ace. Scraggy, however, was tougher than I expected and his figure wavered about until he smashed into Nuriko, knocking her down.

Nuriko didn't even give him another chance to counter and used aerial ace again, knocking it out. Natural brought it back and then released the Sigilyph from earlier that day. Melody was about to order Nuriko to attack, but Sigilyph moved faster and shot a beam of psychic energy at her, almost immediately knocking her out.

Melody immediately returned her and brought out Kayuki. Sigilyph then shot high pressured air, slashing across Kayuki, pushing her backward.

_Kayuki's never been pushed back. Ever._

Kayuki then aimed her dark pulse but was cut off by more air cutting across her. Kayuki was clearly fed up now and she finally scored a hit with dark pulse, nearly knocking out Sigilyph.

Melody brought her back and then released Percy. Natural raised his eyebrow but said nothing. Percy grinned as he faced Sigilyph. The avian Pokemon then threw more cutting air at him. Percy took the hit, but was still grinning. He then jumped up his body glowing a faint green as the leaf on his tail grew into a blade and he brought it down on Sigilyph, finally knocking it out.

Natural returned Sigilyph to its poke-ball, then brought out the rest, smiling softly at them.

"Thank you all for your help. After you're healed, I'll return you to your homes," he said softly.

_So why you have a different team every time._

Natural then walked up to Melody, teal eyes boring into ice-blue eyes. She would never say this to him, but he was kind of intimidating like this.

_Was he always this tall? He's nearly two years younger than me, how is he so tall?_

"You're quite strong. But I have a future and world that I must change for the sake of my friends. And, for that future-" At that, his eyes gleamed with anticipation and determination, both sending a shudder down her spine.

"I'll defeat the Champion and become unbeatable, unlike any other! I'll make all Trainers free their Pokémon!"

Melody stared. Was he insane?!

"You idiot! Next to no trainer is-"

"Just try and stop me! If you want to be together with Pokémon, your only hope is to collect the Badges from each area and head for the Pokémon League! Try and stop me there, if you dare!"

"What- Even if you beat the champion, that won't mean everyone will do as you say!"

"Oh really? What if I had one of the dragons who helped found Unova by my side? What if it agreed with me to change the world and make it better?" Natural challenged, eyes gleaming before his next sentence.

"What if I had _Zekrom _fighting for me?"

That was enough to put her in a still-shock. Melody stared at him, not fully contemplating, no, _refusing_ to contemplate what he said.

"You idiot...it's only a myth!" I said softly but his eyes told me he wasn't bluffing.

"If your conviction is not strong enough, you will never be able to defeat me." Natural said at last, before turning to leave.

"One more thing."

Melody looked at him, realizing his eyes had lost the gleam and he looked embarrassed.

"I enjoyed spending time with you today. Despite what I said, I hope we can do that again."

_WHAT._

Then he left. Melody stood there, Shirley still in her arms, Percy out on the grass, hissing and snapping angrily after Natural.

_What had just happened? And why did I get this feeling that something huge was going to happen in the near future?_

* * *

Well? What did y'all think? Betcha you didn't see THAT coming.

And yes, I am fully aware Natural contradicted himself. To be fair, he does this a lot in the Black and White games.

Look forward to the next chapter!


	18. Chase

"He-e-e-e-y-y-y! Miss Melody!"

Two unusually strong arms wrapped around Melody's neck in an almost suffocating hug. Bianca grinned happily as she withdrew and then grabbed both of Melody's hands in her own.

"It's really you! I'm so happy we ran into each other!" the blonde exclaimed happily, spinning the raven-haired girl around.

Melody bit back the wave of insults that were practically _begging _to be voiced. She had barely gotten any sleep last night, thanks to a certain green-haired individual's infuriatingly contradictory words, actions and ideals.

"Anyways-" Bianca stopped spinning around and let go of Melody's hands to pull out a brochure and showed it to Melody- "there are a whole bunch of things worth seeing in Nimbasa! The Battle subway (A picture of two men in a white and black conductor's uniform by a train), the amusement park (A picture of the various rides, including the Ferris wheel), the sports stadiums (two separate pictures showing tennis, football, soccer, and basket ball players) and the Pokemon musical (a building with a poke-ball combined with a musical note on top of it)!"

Bianca then gasped for breath after her run-on sentence, loudly wheezing. Melody sweat-dropped at the blonde, knowing full what she was going to ask next.

"So, do you want to see them with me? It'll be fun!" Bianca smiled as she offered her hand to Melody.

For a moment, Leon's face flashed before Melody's eyes.

_He's done the same for me before, whenever there was something new to see...why not?_

"Okay then. Show me these things," Melody said, taking hold of Bianca's hand.

Bianca looked surprised for a moment. She didn't expect Melody to say yes so soon! But enough of that, Ice-doll Melody wanted to see Nimbasa with her!

"All righty then! Let's get going!" Bianca exclaimed, dragging Melody along with her.

* * *

"Wow wow wow! Look at all the players go!" Bianca squealed, jumping up and down.

Melody mentally groaned, hoping the blonde would be smart enough to realize how embarrassing she was being. However, as the Bouffalants scored another basket, she realized just how futile those hopes were as Bianca let out another ear-shattering whoop along with the crowd.

_I won't ever bad-mouth another sport again, even in my thoughts, just PLEASE Arceus, let this be over soon, or better yet, make a gas leak happen so the game will stop and we can leave..._

Even that plea went ignored as the game went into over-time.

"Gogogogogo-o-o-o-o!" Bianca screamed, waving her hands at the winning team, while Melody just slumped down into her seat, groaning.

* * *

"Uh, could we skip the amusment park?"

"Why, Miss Melody?"

"Please don't ask."

"Okay..."

* * *

"A. Mazing. Isn't it?" Bianca whispered, excitement radiating from her as they entered the Pokemon Musical hall.

It was large, it was spacious and very very fancy looking. People and Pokemon were dressed in elegant, beautiful and extravagant clothing all around them. There was a large staircase leading up to another floor where the entrance to the next room was blocked by a hulking meat-shield of a security guard.

_Male! It's male, thank Arceus..._

An old man in a fedora and expensive looking clothes then approached the two.

"Hello there! You two look like lovely young ladies," He said, smiling kindly.

"Thanks!" Bianca smiled, a slight blush on her face from the compliment.

Melody just nodded. It simply wasn't the same when it wasn't said with Leon's voice.

"We're celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of when the Pokemon Musical was created and in commemoration, we're giving out prop cases, just like the ones used by professional actors and actresses, human and Pokemon alike. Would you two like one?"

"Yes please!" Bianca immediately said.

Melody sighed. She highly doubted Bianca even knew how to use them. Oh why not?

"Yes please." Melody said.

The old man smiled and then gave them both pink cases with a heart latch on them. Bianca and Melody both accepted them, thanking the man.

"If you want, there's a dressing room over there for you to dress up your Pokemon." The old man pointed to the far-right room.

"Thank you-"

"Um actually, we need to leave. Now!" Bianca cut off Melody, then grabbed her hand and dashed out of the theater.

"What are you doing?" Melody asked, voice panting from the running they were doing at that very moment.

Bianca didn't answer and when Melody heard a male voice calling Bianca's name, the blonde ran even faster.

* * *

"Wai-wai-wait!" Melody gasped out, grinding her feet to a halt.

"No, we still need to run!" Bianca cried, pulling Melody, or trying to, but now the raven-haired girl planted her feet down firmly and had no desire to do do any more running.

"Why are you even running? Better question, why did you drag me along?" Melody asked, prying Bianca's hand off hers.

Bianca remained silent. Melody gave a sigh. It didn't seem that she was going to get answers like this.

"Do you still want to go to the Battle Subway?" Melody asked.

"Um, yes." Bianca replied.

"Then let's go there, all right? At least we won't have to run more."

"Okay. You know, you're really nice, aren't you Miss Melody?" Bianca said, smiling.

Melody shrugged.

"Why not."

* * *

"Wow, it's so big in here!" Bianca yelled, her voice echoing across the inside of the Battle Subway, which was much bigger inside than either of them expected.

There were six separate subway trains, five of which for the battle subway, the last one was to a town called Anville ("Sounds like 'Anvil' town, like those big metal things from the Looney Toons!" Bianca remarked).

"Do you wanna try it out? The Subway double train, I mean?" Bianca asked, eyes sparkling.

"Uh...all right." Melody said, knowing full well she sounded pretty stupid.

Bianca didn't seem to care as she dragged Melody off to sign up for the battle. As the two waited for the subway train for double battling, Bianca talked animatedly about what she had seen and experienced over the course of her journey and Melody, despite being bored out of her mind with waiting, found herself more paying attention than she normally would have, nodding to her comments and making an effort to listen.

"Bianca."

"Uh-huh?"

"Why were you running earlier? And who was calling your name?"

Melody immediately regretted asking as Bianca's cheerfulness evaporated, her eyes suddenly blank, her posture more rigid and her lips drew in a tight line.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-"

"The person who was calling after me was my papa. He was against me going on this journey." Bianca answered, her voice subdued.

"Why didn't he want you to travel?"

"You know all those things that happened in Kanto, in Hoenn, in Johto, and in Sinnoh? About how that silent trainer took down Team Rocket and became the champion? And then the Sootpolis gym leader stopped Groudon and Kyogere and helped Team Magma and Aqua's team up to help her? And what about New Team Rocket and the researcher girl who disbanded them at the Radio tower? And the little aristocrat girl who stopped Team Galactic?"

__ from Kanto._

_Akira Birch from Hoenn._

_Jadyn Gates from Johto._

_Elise Berlitz from Sinnoh._

"Of course. Those four are practically legends," Melody said, for it was true. She honestly admired them, children who were un-extraordinary, yet rose up and took down those people when adults and even the famed International police couldn't beat.

"None of them got away from those people unscathed! And now that Team Plasma is doing all these shenanigans, papa's even more adamant about taking me back home! But I don't want to!"

"Then tell him that. You're eighteen now, aren't you?"

"No, I'm still seventeen but I turn eighteen in a few months. But he doesn't care!"

"Of course I don't!"

The same male voice snapped, causing both girls to jump. Melody turned around to see-

nothing.

_Where's that voice coming from?_

"Um, he's right there." Bianca mumbled, pointing down.

Melody averted her gaze down, finally seeing the tiny man. This was her father?

A vivid image of a short man yelling at a five-year old Bianca to stop playing with Kayuki then flashed before her eyes.

_Oh, it's_ him.

His was the loudest voice she had ever heard in her life.

"Now I'm taking you home, whether you like it or not!" Johnson snapped, then grabbing Bianca's arm and started to drag her away, but Bianca slammed her heels to the ground, fighting against him.

"No! I'm not going home!" Bianca yelled, trying to pry him off with her other hand.

"Haven't you gone far enough?" Johnson countered, grabbing her other hand.

"No way! I'm going to keep traveling with my Pokemon, whether you like it or not!" At that, Bianca got down lower, attempting to bite her father's hand and arm.

"Absolutely not! Others do things their way, and we do things ours!" Johnson pushed away his daughter's face to keep her from biting his limb or digits.

"Then you do things your way and I'll do things my way!"

_Should I step in? It might make things worse..._

"What's the trouble over here?"

The same two men, Ingo and Emmet appeared by them, faces more or less blank.

"We had some complaints of yelling down here so we came to check it out." Ingo said.

"So we came to see what was happening down here." Emmet said.

"So, what's the trouble over here?" Both bosses asked at the exact same time, using the exact same tone.

_Well, that was slightly creepy._

"I was simply taking my daughter home, where she'll be safe." Johnson said smartly.

"I can make my own decisions, dad!" Bianca snapped.

"Why are trying to take her home, may I ask?" Ingo said.

"Why should I have to justify trying to protect my daughter, may I ask?!"

"It seems you don't believe that your daughter is incapable of defending herself, which is why you insist on protecting her, correct? You wish to keep her safe?" Emmet asked.

"Of course! That's exactly right! " Jonhson snapped before realizing what he said as Bianca looked very hurt. "It's because I'm worried..."

_Smooth move._

"If you were given the assurance your child could handle herself, would you allow her to continue traveling?" Ingo asked.

Jonhson remained silent.

"I propose this: If your child and her friend can beat Ingo and I in a double battle, then perhaps you would think again of taking her back home?" Emmet suggested.

Not waiting for an answer from the old man, the two brothers then turned to Melody.

"Would you mind battling as well? You cannot have a proper double battle without four Pokemon."

Melody looked back at Bianca, pleading in her eyes.

"Of course."

* * *

Also eventually, I'll make stories for the characters mentioned off-screen as well. I've got quite the ideas for them...

Look forward to the next chapter!


	19. Persuading

"Shall we begin?"

Ingo and Emmet faced off to Bianca and Melody on the battle field with Johnson standing to the side. He wouldn't tell them, but he was interested in seeing how this would go down.

_Doesn't mean I'll let her keep going with her travels, though. I know what's best for Bianca, after all._

"This battle will be a double battle, with each side using one Pokemon each. Once both Pokemon on either side has fainted, the battle will be over. Understand?" Ingo and Emmet said at the exact same time in the same monotone voice.

"Yeah!" Bianca yelled.

"Right..." Melody sweat-dropped at the two bosses. She wondered vaguely if Bianca was as creeped out by the two men as she was.

"All right then, come on out-" With that, Ingo and Emmet threw two poke-balls out, calling out a different Pokemon.

"-Gurdurr!"

"-Boldore!"

The carnie-based fighting type and orange-crystal encrusted rock type came out and on to the field, looking determined to win.

_A rock type and a fighting type..._

"Percy." Melody brought out the Grass snake to the field. Percy grinned as he looked over at the Boldore and Gurrdur.

Melody glanced at Bianca, who was rummaging through a very untidy looking purse to find a Pokemon to bring out.

_Her starter was Tepig, if I'm not mistaken. But other than that one, I have no idea what other Pokemon she has with her or who she'll even choose. Ingo and Emmet meanwhile, have battled together long enough to know how the other battles. So, how will Bianca and I fight?_

"Okay, go-o-o-o-o Waddles!" Bianca yelled, throwing out her poke-ball, bringing out a Pignite.

The fighting-pig let out a burst of flame through it's snout, looking confidant and ready to battle.

"Hey Mr. Ingo and Emmet! Can you wait a minute?!" Bianca called suddenly to the two men.

"Very well." They both said.

Melody looked back at Bianca quizzically. "Waddles" was clearly a fighting type, so why had she let out this one when Percy already had an advantage over Boldore?

That's when she realized Waddles and Percy were talking with each other.

*Hey there! It's been a while, eh?*

Percy perked up at Waddles voice, looking over to him. He looked surprised before his grin of excitement turned to a grin of happiness.

*Hey, it's you! You've evolved too, huh?* Percy exclaimed, going over to Waddles.

*Yup, I'm now Waddles the Pignite!* He grinned, crossing his muscled arms over his chest.

*Seriously?! And I thought 'Percival' was wired sounding!*

Waddles just snickered before looking back at the Boldore and Gurrdur.

*So we have to fight those guys? This reminds of those 'fights' we used to have at the lab.*

*Uh-huh. And I always kicked your butts.*

*What?! No you didn't! Remember when I beat that one day when the professor was out?*

*Yeah, I always kicked you butts.*

Melody looked at Bianca as their starters continued to talk.

_That's right. These two have been together along with the other Snivy and Oshawatt._

"Is this why you brought him out?" Melody asked softly.

Bianca just grinned before addressing the two bosses.

"We're ready!"

"Very well then! Let the battle BEGIN!" The two men yelled the last part, striking their signature boss poses.

Gurrdur shot over to Percy and brought down it's beam, but Waddles then jumped between them, grabbing the beam in his hooves. Percy took the opportunity and slide toward Boldore, swinging his vines out and wrapping around its body. He tried to throw it, but the rock-type was far too heavy for him to lift. Boldore took this opportunity to then blast rocks right at Percy, smashing into his face and torso.

*Ow ow ow! That hurt!* Percy yelled, hopping backwards.

Waddles stomped-ran over to Gurrdur, body in flames which seemed to make him faster. He crashed into Gurrdur, bringing them both to the ground. Gurrdur then whacked Waddles int he face with it's beam before somehow kicking Waddles off with it's little legs.

_Seriously, how does that even work?_

Waddles then blew smoke out of his snout straight into Gurrdur's face. The fighting type let out a pained growl as it took a few steps back from the pain in its eyes. Unexpectedly, Waddles waited for Gurrdur to recover. Melody stared at Bianca incredulously.

"This is not the time to be courteous. This is the perfect time to attack." Melody said under her breath.

"Its Waddles decision to wait, not mine. He's very chivalrous." Bianca said matter-of-factually."

_No one ever won by being courteous..._

Percy then proceeded to slash down with his blade of leaves down onto Boldore, scoring a direct hit. However, it didn't go down, and proceeded to blast a beam of silver energy right at Percy, colliding with him before he could get out of the way.

"Percy!" Melody exclaimed before she could stop herself as her starter flopped onto the ground. He was still conscious, but was barely holding up.

_ I underestimated how strong Boldore was and Percy's hurt because of it._

"Waddles!"

The Pignite suddenly was by Percy's side and he scooped up the grass snake and got him out of the way from Boldore's rock blast. He set Percy down beside him and faced off against the Boldore and Gurrdur. Percy tried to get back up but Waddles stopped him.

*Stay behind me,* Waddles said sternly before shooting off toward the rock and fighting types.

Waddles then slammed his palms out with brute force, hammering the Boldore repeatedly until its defenses and Sturdy were finally overcome and it fainted. A second later, Gurrdur was swinging down it's beam on Waddles, scoring a direct hit on his head. Waddles went down on one knee, wincing from the pain. Gurrdur then brought forth a giant rock and hurtled it straight at-

CRASH!

Percy slumped down in a faint, taken down by the attack meant for Waddles.

_WHAT?!_

Waddles snorted angrily as he got back up, limbs shaking from the pain. His body became wreathed in flame and moving faster than a blink, he smashed into Gurrdur, finally bringing it down as well. The fire pig looked at the unconscious grass snake, gratefulness in his eyes.

*Thanks.*

"Waddles!" Bianca rushed to his side and hugged the fire pig tightly. "You did an awesome job, take a good rest," Bianca said smiling as she returned Waddles to his poke-ball.

Melody knelt by Percy's side. His eyes were open a smidgen and he wearily smirked at her, clearly to say, *Don't baby me.*

Melody smiled at him.

_Of course not._ "Return."

Melody glanced at the blonde realizing she felt a new respect for her.

_Not only did I just assume she was baggage, I under-estimated how she fought as well. Is she... stronger than I am?_

"Hmm? What's wrong, Miss Melody? You look kind of sick." Bianca said, snapping the raven-haired girl out of her thoughts.

"Nothing, I'm fine. Thank you for having Waddles protect Percy. While stupid, that was kind of you."

"No problem!" Bianca beamed. "Wait wha-?"

"Well that was fun, but now we're going home." Johnson said in a flat tone, appearing out of thin air between the two girls.

"WHAT?!" Bianca and Melody (this surprised her even) exclaimed at the same time.

"So what if you won! There's plenty of other people out there stronger than those two brain surgeons over!" Johnson snapped, gesturing to Ingo and Emmet.

"We take offence to-"

"I don't care if you take offence to that!"

"Sweetie, keep going on with your travels."

All five of them looked up to see the talker. It was a young woman with blonde hair, red and blue earphones, yellow top with sections of her midrift showing, tight black tights and yellow silhouettes

"Who do you think you are?! This is a family matter!" Johnson snapped, pointing a finger at the young woman.

"My name is Elesa. I happen to the be the gym leader of Nimbasa city, as well as a fashion model." She replied coolly

"So?!"

"There are many people in this world. There are people whose way of thinking may be completely different from yours. Sometimes, this means you may get hurt."

_I don't doubt that one bit..._

"Of course! That's exactly right! It's because I'm worried about that..." Johnson trailed off, looking at Bianca, his frustration not gone, but over-shadowed by protectiveness.

"But it's important to keep trying, to learn about the differences between yourself and others... To learn that being different is OK. And you shouldn't worry. Trainers always have Pokémon at their side. Pokémon are truly wonderful. It's not only how cute or strong they can be, but also how much you can depend on them..."

Bianca then grabbed her father's hands, looking at him pleadingly.

"Please papa! I know that they'll be painful things like you worrying, but listen! There are a lot of good things out here too! And I know I've gotten really strong too! So please, let me keep traveling!" Bianca begged, tears starting to pool in her green eyes.

"... if wanting to continue your journey is selfishness on your part, wanting to stop you is selfishness on mine." Johnson then smiled softly.

"I'm surprised to find I'm the one being childish- at my age! The Gym Leader's comments helped me wake up. Bianca, I'm sure it's better that you take the path you want to take now."

Bianca beamed and hugged the little man tightly.

"Papa, I'll be sure to come back when I've found out what I want to do with my life,' she said, burying her face into her father's grayish hair.

"I know you will," He said, and then turned to Melody.

"Melody, was it? If your paths cross again, please... Take care of my little girl, OK?"

_!_

"Okay, sir."

_What does that even mean?_

With that, the little man exited, followed by a monotonous Ingo and Emmet. Elesa smiled slightly before turning to Bianca and Melody. The raven-haired girl noticed that Bianca's mouth was gaping at Elesa.

"I'm sure he traveled as a Trainer himself, in the past... Being a parent must be hard."

The two just stared at the other blonde individual. She then grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head.

"Did I meddle unnecessarily? You looked troubled, so I decided to chime in."

"It wasn't! Thank you for your help, Miss Elesa!" Bianca nearly yelled, bowing so low her hat fell off.

"You're very welcome." Elesa smiled.

At that, Melody noticed Elesa was looking a their belts and poke-balls before looking at them both.

"By the way, if you're Trainers, please stop by the Pokémon Gym. I'll teach you a little something about how tough a journey can get."

"Cool!" Bianca grinned, putting her hat back on her head.

"..."

Elesa turned to leave, but then did a double take and walked straight up to Melody.

"Black hair..." She murmured before leaving for real.

"...I'm not even going to try to respond to that." Melody said, sweat-dropping.

"Wow, Elesa is a totally cool woman! I wanna be cool like that one day! Or maybe it'd be cool to be a researcher like Professor Juniper...well whatever! I've still got time to decide my future!" Bianca said, pumping her fists excitedly

"Good for you," Melody said, repressing a snort from the image of Bianca acting as cool and calm as Elesa.

_That's about as possible as Zekrom._

_..._

_! _

_Zekrom!_

The battle and Natural's words came back like a hammer.

_"I'll defeat the Champion and become unbeatable, unlike any other! I'll make all Trainers free their Pokémon!"_

_"Just try and stop me! If you want to be together with Pokémon, your only hope is to collect the Badges from each area and head for the Pokémon League! Try and stop me there, if you dare!"_

_"If your conviction is not strong enough, you will never be able to defeat me."_

"Miss Melody?"

Melody looked up.

"Um, thanks for spending the day with me! I had a lot of fun!" She said, smiling.

"I did too. Thank you for asking." Melody said truthfully.

"No problem! Now I'm gonna challenge Elesa! Bye-bye!" Bianca then scuffled away at top speed out of the subway.

Melody waved slightly, smiling despite herself. Bianca was a ball of energy, all right. She did enjoy herself, despite the annoyances.

_Even if Zekrom doesn't exist, Natural still might hurt other people and himself with those contradicting ideals of his. It might not be a bad idea to collect badges. At least I might be able to talk some sense into him._

_But it'll put me even further behind schedule. At the rate I'm going, I'll miss it..._

* * *

It's possible I might be going to see the new Les Miserables. Also, Anne Hathaway who'll be playing Fantina lost twenty pounds for her role!

Gurrdur and Boldore were sued by Ingo and Emmet in Black and White 2.

Yeah I changed it from the tanned individual to Elesa. I've decided not to use her just yet...

Dialouge from Bulbapedia.

Enjoy!


	20. Interrogation

Here's 20!

* * *

Nuriko quacked animatedly as she flew around the Charizard drawbridge leading to the next city. Melody smiled faintly at how happy the Ducklett was as she again barely avoided getting spattered with said Pokemon species feces.

_You'd think they would put up a cover from the Ducklett droppings..._

After another ten minutes of walking/ dodging, they made it to Driftveil city. It was a port town, with some houses scattered here and there, the customary Pokemon center, some larger buildings on the hills on the outskirts of the city, and a building near the center of the city that was bustling full of people and smelled of exotic goods

Down by where the city's land met the sea, there were a series of buildings with workers who bundled up so much that their faces were little more than eyes and the skin around them. Down by the harbor, were ships carrying huge crates and other objects covered in plastic. A lighthouse stood on a rocky island near the shoreline.

_I should get to the Pokemon center and set up for the night-_

"Hey you!" Melody nearly jumped out of her skin at the suddenness and tone of the voice.

She turned to face the speaker and the next thing she knew, she was slammed onto the concrete ground, a human-ish weight pinning her down.

"You're under arrest for aiding the suspects we caught this morning!" he yelled.

Melody stared in disbelief at the accusation. Arrest? Aiding? Suspects? ARREST?!

She managed to get a look at the speaker, who was a police officer with a Sawk. Said Sawk was the one pinning her down. He then pulled her up roughly and Melody was dragged to a police-station. Her bag and poke-balls were immediately taken from her and placed in a case by the warden's desk.

"Take her to the sleeping room." the officer told the warden when they came in.

Melody was then pushed into a room with strange tubes in the wall and the door was locked behind her. Immediately, she ran to the door and began banging on it. "What is going on? Why am I here?!" she shouted.

Then, a strange gas filled the room. Melody immediately tried to hold her breathe, but after over a minute, her lungs were screaming for air and she eventually( more out of instinct than her desperate need to breathe) opened her mouth and took a deep breathe of air. Almost immediately she felt the affects of the gas as a heavy drowsiness overcame her and in another few seconds, she hit the floor, out like a light.

* * *

_Ugh..._

She opened her eyes. The raven-haired girl was set in a completely dark room. She was sitting in a chair apparently. Melody tried to get up, but she found her arms and legs were constricted and bound to the chair. Trying to move her other appendages, she found that her wrists, ankles and neck were fastened to the chair she was in.

_Okay... there's no light in here. I'm tied to a chair. I've been accused of aiding some freaks whom I've never met. But, that's still no reason to panic. They have absolutely no proof that I helped them and eventually, they'll realize that and let me go. It's only a matter of time. I, in the meantime, just need to keep calm. Calm... calm... ca-_

A moment later, a white light was turned on directly in her face. A yelp came from Melody's mouth as she shied away from the light, eyes shut tightly to avoid possible blindness.

"A'right brat: talk," A voice, belonging to an old man with an weird accent growled.

Melody waited for a few more moments before opening her eyes a crack, then when fully adjusted, she opened them fully. The room she was in was still too dark to take in and the lighting wasn't helping much. The speaker was a middle-aged man with afro-ish brown hair, clay brown eyes, a ten-gallon hat, cowboy get-up and wielded a pickax over his shoulder.

"Why am I here?" Melody asked, not even bothering to try yo wonder why he was holding a pickax.

_I thought they used chairs for this kind of thing!_

Clay snorted. "'Why'm I here?' she asks. Ya know damn well why yer here, brat," he said in a low voice, face inches away from hers now. She shrank back against the chair instinctively.

"No, I don't." Melody said.

"Playin' ignorant? Fine, I'll play along. This mornin', we caught a group of Pokemon liberaters, or rather, Team Plasma grunts."

_!_

"Not all of 'em were their cronies, see. Most were just some saps who got sucker'd into helpin' the bastards out. We were holdin' 'em for interrogation, but then, th' drawbridge lowered down an' while the power used t' lower it was spent, th' locks that powered up th' cell doors went out an' they got out. I talk'd with Elesa an' she said tha' YOU," at that, the man pointed directly in her face, "asked to be let through! Coincidence? I don' think so!" the man yelled in her face.

Melody stared at the man incredulously, wishing she could whip the spittle off her face. Any emotion she had before then was wiped away, leaving only indignation and anger. "Then it is just a coincidence! I would never help Team Plasma, ever! Look at my eyes or something! Is this the face of someone who would aid the same people who took away my Pidove?!" Melody yelled back, not even paying attention to the twinge of guilt in her stomach.

The two glared back at each other, neither willing to look away.

_This brat's eyes... they're definitely different from their eyes. Crystal clear, without a single lie in 'em..._

The man sighed loudly before addressing her, "Y'all don't seem like a dirt bag but I ain't lettin' you off th' hook so easily! Even if ya weren't helpin' 'em, ya still caused 'em to escape. But, if y'all were t' help us catch the freaks, then I'll cut off yer charges and let y'all go free. Whaddya say?" he asked gruffly, holding out his hand to her.

"...really?" Melody dead-panned at him before giving her arms a wriggle. "Still, I accept your offer, even if all of this is just based on circumstantial evidence," she muttered the last part as loud as she could.

The man gave an approving nod. "Tha's more like it." Then he yelled upward.

"Oi, Havoc! Turn on th' lights! We got ourselves a volunteer!" the man yelled.

"Yes sir!" the voice of the officer that took Melody in came from a speaker in the room. Somewhere.

Almost instantly, the room was completely filled with light. Melody immediately shied away from the light again but the man didn't even look fazed. Clearly he had done this kind of thing many times. Her eyes eventually adjusted to the light and she was able to look around. The room was bare except for a huge light bulb on the ceiling and... her attire. A black straight jacket suit that clung to her body, highlighting quite a few details. It had straps on the sleeves, which constricted her limbs.

"Are you serious?" Melody asked softly, rage beginning to emit from her. The man was unfazed.

"What? Tha's th' standard prison uniform. Y'all can take it off when y'all find those robbers, allrigh'?" the man said, smirking slightly.

Melody looked ready to murder at this point as the officer Havoc came in and quickly untied her before leading her out as fast as he could. (_Scary, s-c-c-a-a-a-a-r-r-r-y-y-y-y...,_ he thought, feeling the rage from her) She heard the man call out to her before the two of them left the room.

"Life's all 'bout give an' take! Y'all give yer cooperation, an' I'll take back tha' prison garb!"

* * *

It's been ages since I up-dated this and all I give you is this. But hey, it's here for a reason. Said reason is to set up the next chapter! So, look forward to it!


	21. Investigation

"So, they came to hide in here, yes?"

"Yeah. This is where they were last seen."

Melody and the officer Havoc had just made their way through the cold storage complex until they came to a building that even from the outside, gave the impression of an icebox.

Melody shivered. The prison uniform's material was barely thick enough to keep her warm, even when they weren't by the icebox building. The sooner she got this done, the better.

"Ice-doll?"

Melody glanced up to see Cheren all bundled up in the dark grass with his Liepard.

"Cheren."

He was about to say something else but then stopped as he realized what she was wearing.

"If you don't mind, would you tell me why are you wearing a prison uniform?" he asked tentatively.

_Why not?_

"They thought I was a Team Plasma crony and arrested me. Until we bring the real cronies back, I'm stuck wearing this."

Cheren nodded slightly, understanding.

"I see... I don't suppose I can come with you?"

"Hey, this is a police investigation!" Officer Havoc snapped, "We've no room for tag-a-longs-"

"Why?" Melody asked, cutting Havoc off.

"Clay, the gym leader is too busy trying to get those guys and so until he does get them, I can't get my fifth gym badge. He said if I get them, then I can challenge him."

_So it wouldn't matter who he asked, "Clay" knew that he could use any of us to get the job done. Practical man._

"Again, why not?"

Havoc grabbed her arm, snapping, "I'll tell you why not-!"

"What's the harm, really? We'll be getting another set of hands to help us get those plasma cronies and the only reason we're wasting time now is because you are the only one against it,' Melody replied coolly.

Havoc twitched angrily before letting go of her arm and turning to Cheren. "You had better not slow us down."

"Fair enough."

_I'm starting to feel like I'm going to become less and less authoritative as this goes on..._

With that, Melody pushed open the door and walked in, only to nearly run out again. It was _freezing_. She clutched her arms around her, rubbing them frantically to keep the little warmth she had left inside her body. Beside her, Havoc and Cheren did the same only less frantically.

The building was filled with crates and packages, bound up tightly with plastic and ropes. There were even some platforms where step-ladders could access them to. Cheren took a tentative step onto the floors, only to find out that they were little more than sheets of ice.

"Wait, you might not want to-!"

Melody reached out, grabbing her arm to stop her from sliding but then she was pulled forward as well. Havoc winced at the crash. Cheren was sprawled on the floor on his face with Melody on his back, both wincing from the impact. Cheren growled as he groped for his glasses before Melody picked them up and handed them to him. He looked surprised at the gesture. Melody held a frown back.

_Why can't I be nice without people being surprised with me?_

Havoc then slid across the ice, holding his hands out so he wouldn't crash as the other two had. Melody and Cheren slowly made their way to ground with more friction before getting back on their feet. There some workers who had approached them to see what the commotion was all about. A moment later, Cheren sent out Liepard and Melody sent out Nuriko. Claws slashed and feathers scattered and soon, the workers had all been defeated.

"Look, I know you're trainers, but may I remind you that this is an investigation, not a grinding session!" Havoc snapped, his temper almost blown at the time being wasted.

Melody and Cheren both promptly ignored him as they continued on. They carefully started to climb carefully up tone of the step-ladders with Havoc behind them. Havoc would never say this aloud, but he would often bless Clay for making those prison uniforms, especially when they had female suspects. It made his job a bit more bearable.

_Now if only she didn't have the likeness of a stick figure..._

Melody sneezed violently just then. Cheren ignored it too.

They continued to go through the building until they came to an container at the near end that had it's side on the ground, pried open.

"Well, I'd have to guess that they're in there," Melody said, drawing out another poke-ball and releasing Kayuki.

"Obviously," Cheren said as he brought out his Frillish as well.

They stayed on wither side of he container, straining heir ears, until they heard an elderly voice say, "All of you-huddle around me! I can't take this cold..."

Havoc then burst into the container, with his Sawk by his side and a revolver his his hand yelling, "Freeze!"

Nine people were inside. Three wore the Plasma outfit, five simply wore regular clothes and the last was wearing violet-red robes. They were all huddled together, shivering. At Havoc's voice, they all looked up. The old man between them looked up, his steady gaze seriously contrasting his shaking body.

"Pokémon are our king's friends. While we're taking care of them, we can't let any harm come to them here. Everyone, drive these intruders away!"

"Yes sir!"

With that, the Plasma grunts as well as the others drew out their Pokemon.

Cheren snorted, wearing a look that said, "bitch please" as he faced down on them.

_Have to admit, that expression fits him pretty well._

And the battle began. Nuriko and Kayuki took the ones on the left, Siegfried and Liepard took the ones on the right. Havoc leaped between them and immediately captured the old man.

"Damn you! Release Sage Zinzolin right now!" another grunt that was laying in the shadows leaped at Havoc with knife in hand but a chop delivered by Sawk took care of them, the grunt falling out cold onto the floor.

"The ones right here have been taken care of," Melody said as she healed up Kayuki and Nuriko.

"The ones here have been too," Cheren added.

Havoc grinned, relieved. Just then, Clay showed up, along with some of the cold storage workers. He surveyed the robbers before a smirk came on his face.

"Well, I'll be! Hidin' in a chilly old place like this..."

He turned to the workers, barking out, "You guys take these Pokémon robbers!"

They quickly flanked the Plasmas and the sage, and marched them out. Clay then turned to the other three.

"Well, you kept yer end o' th' deal, now it's only fair I do th' same. Havoc, take this one back t' th' police station."

Havoc nodded, murmuring a "Yes sir" before leading her out. Before she was out of hearing range, Melody heard Clay talking with Cheren.

"Yup, a promise is a promise. Come on an' challenge my Gym!"

* * *

*Boss is so happy right now, it's scary,* Percy admitted to Kayuki. She merely smiled.

Melody had just gotten released and was back in her own clothing again. She had nearly skipped out of the station, a smile, while not a mile wide, was wider than they had ever seen their trainer have.

_She just got a taste of what it was like to be held against her will, however briefly. Of course she would be happy._

Percy shrugged as he snuggled around her shoulder. He was just glad his trainer was back where she belonged: with him.

"What-?"

Percy perked up at the question in her voice. He looked at her face, seeing concern on it before she ran over to the gym. Cheren, Clay and Havoc were there and across from them, were a huge group of Plasma members, as well as Ghetsis.

_What's_ he d_oing here?_

Melody silently took a place by Cheren's side as she, Percy and Kayuki watched the proceedings.

Ghetsis smiled pleasantly at Clay.

"Clay. It's a pleasure to meet you. I am Ghetsis, of Team Plasma. I've come to pick up my associates who are in your care."

Clay snorted, making it sound as gruff and irritated as he could. Probably.

"I don't need no thanks, now. Yer buddies were tryin' to steal some folks' Pokémon."

Ghetsis's expression didn't falter but false surprise was in his eyes now.

"What's this? It seems as if there has been some misunderstanding. We only free Pokémon from wicked people."

"Well, that sounds real nice, if it's true. I may not talk purty, but at least I'm an honest man. You talk real nice, but what yer sayin' kinda sounds like lyin'. So tell me plain, what are ya tryin' to say?"

While his face was still cordial, his tone and eyes became sinister.

"Team Plasma also has an interest in Driftveil City. And we have many, many more members besides those who are here..."

Melody felt a shudder go up her spine at this. He was basically saying that he would sic other Plasma grunts on the people of the city!

_He might have just taken every person here hostage..._

Clay frowned deeply before answering, "...Well, I can't tell if yer lyin' or not, but I reckon you've won this without a fight. Hrrmph. Fine. Take 'em and git!"

Ghetsis smiled brightly, the sinister look and tone gone. "A decision worthy of a businessman called the Miner King. Your grasp of the situation is outstanding. Well then, we will be taking our colleagues off your hands..."

The Plasmas on Ghetsis's side then went to the station and a minute later, came out with their colleagues, including the sage and ones without the uniform. The ones without looked pretty scared, Melody noticed. The sage, Zinzolin, went up to Ghetsis, gratitude clearly written on his face.

"Ghetsis... Thank you very much..."

He merely chuckled as he placed a hand on the other's shoulder.

"Don't worry, my fellow servant of the king... We are two of the Seven Sages, are we not?"

Ghetsis then looked to the others, "Well then, everyone, I expect that we will meet again somewhere. But before I depart-"

He then walked right up to Melody, and took a small envelope out of a pocket in his robe.

"From my lord N, to you," he said with a flourish as he handed it to Melody. She took it out of his hands, movements almost robotic.

"You should feel honored, Melody Knights. Our king has never had so much interest in an individual before."

Melody bit back a grimace. Ghetsis's smile almost seemed genuine, if it weren't for that look in his eyes. It was like how someone would eye a mean-spirited Purrloin before delivering a hard kick to it's head. And it still lingered, even as he finally left with the others.

It was all the raven-haired girl could do not to shiver.

Clay's voice snapped her out of it as he addressed the three of them.

"Sorry to let Team Plasma go after you tracked 'em down, fellas. Say, why don't we cheer ourselves up with a Pokémon battle? Don't keep me waitin'!"

With that, Clay went into the gym. Cheren sweat-dropped. Melody glanced at him.

"So you'll be challenging him, then?"

"Yeah..."

Cheren looked pretty shaken now.

"Ice-doll, I can't help thinking that that Ghetsis person isn't an ordinary person. There's something very unsettling about him."

"So, I wasn't the only one who noticed."

They stayed silent now, faces pensive and serious for a few minutes before Cheren broke the silence.

"I'm going to train my Pokemon some more. I really don't want to lose to Clay. In fact, I'll train so hard, that I'll get a flawless victory!" Cheren looked pumped now.

Melody snorted slightly, holding a smile back. When it came down to it, she knew that all boys were the same.

* * *

Poor Melody, she's been too icy for too long so people are scared or surprised if she's nice...

Crafty Clay is crafty.

Ghetsis is creepy, I agree whole-heartedly.

Dialogue taken from Bulbapedia.


	22. Cave

_Melody Knights,_

_First of all, I apologize for not being present at Nimbasa city. Something very urgent had come up and I simply had to take care of it. Thus, I placed the task of delivering my words to you through the young man known to you as Natural. But now I wish to meet you, face-to-face, at Chargestone cave at the end of Route 6 tomorrow at 3:00 PM. Come alone._

_Secondly, my patience is wearing thin with your insolence. You continue to try and hinder my people from liberating the Pokemon. I have been quite generous with you; I have warned you time and time again not to oppose us, yet you refuse to listen. If this goes on, then I will have no choice but to take care of you myself._

_Sincerely, _

_N Harmonia Gropius, King of Team Plasma._

* * *

"I must be out of my mind," Melody said aloud as she walked down the route with Kayuki by her side, floating a few inches off the ground.

After reading the letter (and tearing it up into quite possibly hundreds of pieces then dumping in the trash), she had immediately started to train her four Pokemon in preparation for the meeting. She didn't trust that N would come by himself, even for a moment.

"And what was the 'something very urgent'?" Melody asked, scratching her head.

_"I've no idea." _Kayuki said as she hovered closer to her trainer.

As soon as they had begun walking down the route, Melody had brought her out of her poke-ball.

"Stay by my side, all right?" she had asked, her eyes almost the same as all those years ago.

_When Melody could bring herself to-_

"Kayuki. We're here."

Melody looked up at the entrance of the cave, which was blocked by a yellow web. She tentatively reached out a hand to it but drew back as she realized it was crackling with electricity.

"Looks like th' nest of an Electric-type Pokémon called Galvantula."

Melody looked behind to see Clay march up with a four-foot sand crocodile with sunglasses to see the entrance. His scowled at the web.

"Don't know why there's a nest here, but if there are folks havin' problems, th' Gym Leader's th' one ta fix it."

He snapped his fingers. "Krokorok! Take it out!"

Krokorok then charged a the web and hacked it down with its claws. The electricity buzzed and crackled over its skin but did nothing. In seconds, the web had been destroyed.

Melody glanced at Clay, as if to say something but then looked ahead.

"I don't know how good you really are, but if ya think ya can go, go wherever, and if ya think ya can do somethin', keep doin' it. Do things how ya want! Decide yer own limits."

Clay smiled gruffly at this as he patted her shoulder and left. Melody raised an eyebrow as she touched her shoulder briefly.

"What was that about?" she muttered as she entered the cave.

Kayuki had to admit; even after living for so many years, she was taken back by the sight of the inside. The cave was almost as bright inside as the day was outside. Huge crystals were littered around almost welded to the floor, bright blue and humming faintly. Shards of various sizes in different hues of blue floated above the ground from as little to a few inches to nearly ten feet.

"Incredible." Melody breathed softly.

_"Agreed-"_

Kayuki stopped as she noticed something. Was it her imagination, or had the air, only for a moment, shimmer? Kayuki hovered closer to Melody, who immediately saw how serious the Astral Body Pokemon looked and heightened her guard.

Then, in a heartbeat's time, tho people had appeared on either side of Melody. They had long white hair, masks covering most of their face except their eyes which were shadowed, black tank tops that revealed their midriffs that were covered with grey cloths and black baggy pants.

They then grabbed Melody's arms in vice-like grips and a third took the premier ball from her belt and returned Kayuki to it before she could act, latching a claw-like machine onto it and each of the other poke-balls. Melody struggled to get out of their grip but to no avail.

"Come."

With that, the two pulled Melody along with them, in an almost canter. Melody couldn't even try to get a foothold on the ground, they were moving too fast and their grip too strong. She had no choice but to be dragged along like rag-doll until they reached where they were taking her. They then entered the next part of the cave. The two let go of her arms, the sudden stop after the speedy entrance causing her to fall onto the ground, the impact bruising her knees and elbows.

"My lord N, we have brought the one you want."

And as quickly as they came, they disappeared. Melody winced as she attempted to get up before a gloved hand reached out to her. She looked up to see the face, or rather the mask, of N. She pushed away his hand and got back up herself.

"... you have ninjas." Melody said in an incredulous tone. N chuckled at this.

"Ah, yes. That was the Shadow Triad, just now. Ghetsis enlisted them in Team Plasma. Apparently, they were the ones who prepared the Galvantula nest at the cave entrance."

"... Ghetsis has ninjas." Melody said, tone still incredulous.

"Are you quite finished?" N asked, tone dead panned.

"I suppose so."

_Wait a second. Why did he say "Apparently"? Is he saying he didn't know that they were doing that?_

As Melody looked around, she saw Natural standing a few feet away from them.

"Natural," she said softly before she walked to his side. Natural glanced at her, his eyes dull.

"What are you doing here?" Melody asked. He remained silent.

N then placed a hand on her shoulder, pulling her backwards so she could see the cave better.

"Chargestone Cave... I like this place. Formulas express electricity and its connection to Pokémon... If people did not exist, this would be an ideal place."

Melody could almost hear the wistful smile that was probably on his face.

"You have been chosen, you know." N suddenly said.

_What._

Melody stared at him, surprise and confusion on her face.

"Does it surprise you I said that?"

"... a bit."

N nodded at that.

"Of course. If you don't understand what it means, it's not likely to surprise you. Even so, such news would probably still be a surprise."

N then began walked around her, as if surveying every part of the raven-haired trainer, talking all the while.

"I have been intrigued by you for some time now, so I decided to find out as much as I could about you. After I told him, Ghetsis used the Shadow Triad to find out about you, as well as the people who interacted with you from the time you left Nuvema Town to right now."

_Oh Arceus._

The fact that these people might know so much about her was enough to make Melody want to throw up.

"Cheren Coryn is pursuing the ideal of strength, challenging the gym leaders all across Unova so that he may challenge Alder and become the champion. He feels that that would prove he is truly living."

_Huh..._

"Poor Bianca Cabernet has faced the sad truth that not everyone can become stronger, even so she's trying so hard to keep going and to find something worthwhile in her journey. She strives to find the truth that would help her decide how to live her life.

_Wow..._

"Leon Lamperouge is quite interesting."

Melody's blood froze at this.

"He seems to be on both sides of the coin: he regularly challenges the Battle Subway, so that he might be able to succeed the Subway bosses Ingo and Emmet and implant his ideas to make the subway even better than it already is. And at the same time, he makes arrangements for when he stops journeying and settles down, looking for houses and furniture to buy for that time."

Melody stared at him, trying very hard not to show how horrified she felt. They could have hurt him at any time, as well as Cheren and Bianca. And the fact that it was because of her was even worse.

"Still, he's not as interesting as you, Melody Knights." N pointed at her as he said this.

"You are not swayed either way. While Cheren is black, Bianca white, and Leon grey, you are none of those. You wish to go somewhere still unknown, for still unknown reasons. You are colorless, a truly neutral presence. Which is apparently a good thing."

N then gestured to the back of the cave where other tunnels opened up.

"Team Plasma will be waiting for you ahead. I want to see what kind of Pokémon Trainer you really are."

With that, he walked down one of the tunnels, Natural trailing behind him.

"Natural!" Melody called after him but he still didn't reply, walking steadily behind N.

_Why is he here? Did N bring Natural here to shake me? Or is-_

_Is Natural part of Team Plasma?_

* * *

Contradictions, contradictions EVERYWHERE.

The Les Mis movie was fantastic! A good blend of the musical and the book it was! I'm a little sad that so many people think Javert didn't do a good job. I think he did a great job being him.

I saw the Hobbit again, only with more of my family. The part that always gets me is, "I have parasites the size of my arms!" Those who have already seen it know what I mean.


End file.
